Revelation and the New order
by The Order of the White Knights
Summary: A war looms on the horizon.Young Zak Saturday is now 16 and will learn that his powers have destined him to be something more than he could have ever dreamed. As events unfold, new alliances are forged, betrayals are made, and love is discovered.
1. An Unusual Visitor

An Unusual Visitor

It was late. "Why do we even bother guarding this place if we're just going to blow it up tomorrow?" asked a man standing on the edge of a circular cliff. They were up in the Himalayas wrapping up another failed attack that had been tried by an enemy clan. The attack proved that others knew where they were and that it would be wise to leave this area. "It's the boss's orders. Or do you want to tell him that you're willing to put everyone at risk just because the attack failed and 50 enemy soldiers have vanished," another soldier nearby. "No sir," replied the first. They were in special armor that prevented the cold night from affecting them, but he was tired and wanted to sleep. But orders were orders. All of the sudden, something in the snow surrounding them moved. "Contact!" yelled the sergeant in charge.12 rifles were brought up into firing position, but before they could shoot something hit them and pinned their arms to their side. The man looked down and saw that it looked like spider webs. He looked back up to see a strange humanoid charging them. It was huge and had what looked like extra arms coming out of its' back. It knocked each soldier out of the way as it got closer.

"Halt!" yelled a voice from behind. The man turned to look and saw his boss and the rest of the company move up with rifles up and at the ready. The creature stopped and looked at them. Its' chest swelled and it looked like something was about to shoot out when another man came into view. "Munya, listen to our friends for one moment." A pale looking man with a large cloak stepped into the light coming from the Ordo Ferrum base. "Who are you?!" his boss yelled. "My dear man, don't you know a celebrity when you see one?" the man replied. "Wait a minute you're that guy from the show Weird World, right?" The man nodded. "Lower your weapons men!" the boss yelled. "Now, what brings you to our little corner of the world, Argost?" My friend, do you recall the deal I proposed to you a few years back." Argost asked. "Perhaps. You mean the one about revealing the existence of the cryptids and those Zintari right? The one where I become leader of the entire Ordo Ferrum organization if I follow you?" the man asked. "That's the one," said Argost. "I believe the time has finally come and so I ask are you with me?" The man's boss thought about it for a moment. Just a moment. Then he called everyone to attention, including those still struggling to get the spider web off. "Sir! General Farin and Phoenix Division reporting for duty!" the man yelled. "Excellent General. Gather your men. We're going to the summit of the Ordo Ferrum leaders." said Argost. "But sir, my division has been banned from there. What do you intend to do?" Farin asked. "I intend to make you leader of the Ordo Ferrum." Argost replied with a wicked smile.

A few hours later, in an underground meeting in Egypt.

"WE cannot go to war without a supreme leader!" "Then make me leader of Ordo Ferrum!" "No me!" "Not you insolent swine!" "The right is mine!" Several voices were arguing the yearly issue yet again. Who should lead all of Ordo Ferrum? The leaders of all the clans had come together, because the Novus Ordo had been attacking their bases once more. However each leader wanted the power for himself. The 74 leaders kept arguing for hours. Then all of a sudden armed troops rushed into the meeting room. This was a violation of the truce between the clans! "What is going on!?" yelled one of the commanders. "My dear commanders, it's finally time for a leader to emerge." said a voice coming from down the hall. In stepped Argost, flanked by Farin and Munya, and he turned to speak to the commanders. "You all have been fighting for too long. I am here to lead all of Ordo Ferrum with General Farin leading the clans into battle as Supreme Commander. You will all follow us or be dealt with." "We will never follow you. The glory of leader belongs to us-"one of the commanders said, but he never finished as all of the troops in the room started executing the commanders. "I guess I should have said all of your troops would follow us." Argost said as he stepped over the bodies and approached the wall of communication screens. He turned them all on, watching as the different clans answered his call. "My good men, greetings and bien venue. I am your leader Argost with my good General Farin here. We have just dealt with your hesitant leaders and declare that now is the time for the plan to come to fruition. Will you follow us?" he said and waited for their answer. All at once they started saying, "Sir, we will follow you! Glory to Ordo Ferrum!" As Munya send out the orders for each clan to rendezvous with the main group in Egypt, Farin turned and asked "Sir, what is our first objective?" "We will launch an attack on the Saturdays home and steal their data on every cryptid in the world. Once we have that data, we can use it to proclaim to the world the truth." he replied, smiling wickedly. "And then we begin our conquest of them and the Secret Scientists, the extermination and enslavement of all cryptids and Zintari, and the destruction of the Novus Ordo."


	2. It Begins

/text/- someone's POV (point of view)

text- someone's thoughts

"_text"-_ cryptid talking

It Begins

/Zak's POV/

It was a rainy day at the Saturday house. The rain tapped against the window of my room. I sure am glad the new house was built strong. I thought. Wonder what everyone else is up to? I jumped off my bed and walked out of my room, nearly running into Fisk. "Sorry! Didn't see ya there Fisk." I said, stepping around him as I went. Fisk said "_Whatcha doing?_" "I'm seeing what everyone is doing" I replied. I found Mom and Dad working in the lab. They looked like they were doing more research on the origin of Kur. My origin. I thought. The fight with Argost ended 5 years ago in Antarctica with the discovery of me being Kur. Since then, my parents have been trying to figure out why Kur is me. I left them to it. I found Zon flying out in the rain trying to fish in the nearby stream. Komodo was curled up asleep on his rug in the living room. I found Doyle cleaning his mercenary gear in his room. I decided to challenge Fisk to a race on the Xbox 360. Outside something was hiding out of sight, waiting for its' chance to strike.

/Sayre's POV/

"So why do we have to go check this area out again?" I asked. My squad had been chosen to search a forested area where sightings of Ordo Ferrum troops were reported. Arrayed around me were my fellow squad mates and squad leader. "Our division is the closest to the reported area and our squad was the only one ready to go with Ranger Company's 3rd squad." said my sister Asagi. She was our squad's scout. She also happened to be a rare breed of Zintari. We were flying to the area in one of two Storm Dropships. Each dropship could carry a squad of 15 troopers. "We're almost to the drop zone!" yelled the pilot. "Remember to check your line of fire and make sure you have ammo in your weapons!" my squad leader Christopher said. He was mainly talking to the 3 newbies that were added last week. I checked my gear out. My katana was strapped to my back, extra ammo was in my vest pockets, and my weapon was currently set on safe. Others around me were doing the same. We had trained for instances such as this, but this was the first time they were sent out in such a small force. Please let this be a false run. she thought. Her last run had gone badly, with 43 dead, 104 wounded, and 11 missing. She was anxious to get this over with.

/Ordo Ferrum Lieutenant and his Company/

His company moved up to the edge of the forest surrounding the house. "Alright men, Lord Argost has trusted this task to us. Info team head to the lab the minute the fight gets going. Everyone else, slaughter all who stand in your way!" he yelled. "HUAH!" his men screamed. "Sir, incoming Storm Dropships!" yelled his scanner trooper. Damn, were they already on to us he thought. "Bazooka men move up! Take those dropships down!" he yelled. They moved up, zeroed in on the dropships as they were landing, and pulled the trigger.

/Sayre's POV/

"MISSILE!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the co-pilot. "Bravo Two, get your men out of there!" A missile slammed into Bravo One. The hover engines exploded, causing the whole thing to catch fire. The cockpit exploded as well as the drop ramp. Some troops jumped out, 4 of them on fire, before the whole thing blew. "Move! Move! Move!" my squad leader screamed. We jumped from the dropships rear ramp and scattered, marking targets with fire. I looked up ahead and saw a house. There were troops moving up to the house. "Sergeant! Ordo Ferrum troops moving for that house. There must be someone or something they want in there." I yelled. He looked over and saw what I saw. "Corporal, take 6 men and protect that house!" he yelled. "Yes sir. You men come with me. And someone better contact command!" I screamed as I ran towards the house, knights falling in behind me. I looked over my shoulder and watched as Bravo Two came crashing down. Please let this be important! I thought as I sprinted for the house.

/Zak's POV/

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!?!" I screamed. Everyone came running with their combat gear. "Zak, what's up?" my mom asked. "There's a fight going on outside! Some type of hovercraft blew up while another crashed down!" I yelled. We watched as gunfire was traded between the two forces out there. Then we saw a platoon of troops charging the house. "And it looks like we're about to get caught up in whatever's going on." I said as I grabbed my claw and pistol (mom wasn't happy Doyle got me it, but I guess she's gonna have to rethink that).

**Did you like? Nice cliff hanger huh? This is our first story since joining fanfiction. Please read and review. Also we are allowing anonymous reviews as well now. Chapter three will come soon. Also if you want to know more about the groups in this story as well as the new characters that have been or will be introduced, go to our page where we will be posting the info there under Names, Groups, and Other Info.**


	3. New Home Destroyed but New One Gained

**Hey Everyone. This is Knight3 of the 13 White Knights. Knight1 had to go to college before he could post this so he asked me if I could. Below are some new changes on how to read this story. Also, many of us our concerned that there haven't been any reviews yet, despite the 39 hits we've gotten already. We know it's been up for only what two days now, but we would still like the reviews. Today (9/22/09) we will be posting the info we promised on our main page. Anyways, I'll stop rambling. Oh, before I forget, we're not going to do the POVs anymore. It didn't seem to work like we hoped.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

New Home Destroyed but New One Gained

"Zak!" Doc screamed. A man had gotten behind him and was about to stab him with a sword. Doc aimed his power glove at him and fired a beam at him. It hit the man and sent him flying. "Thanks Dad!" Zak yelled. They had just killed half of that platoon that got into their house. Doc and Drew noticed that some went below to the lab and ran after them. "Doyle, Zak, and Fisk, keep them busy up here okay!" Drew yelled. "Right!" they replied. Doc, Drew, and Komodo ran down to the lab to see 8 men going through their files and computers. "Hey!" Doc yelled. As the men looked up, Drew shot a ball of fire at them, burning them where they stood. 3 men dodged it and brought there rifles to bear. Doc shot one in the chest and took cover. "What could they want?!" Doc yelled. "I'm not sure!" Drew replied. Komodo had disappeared. All of the sudden the shooting stopped. "WHAT TH-" they heard. They looked around to see that komodo had taken a bite out of one of the men's necks and had managed to clasp onto the hand of the other's weapon. They came out and Doc tackled him down. "Now tell us what do you want?" Doc growled. "Ich kann Ihnen nicht sagen, du dreckiger Hunde. Ich habe für eine Mission von großer Bedeutung ausgewählt." the man screamed at him. "You catch any of that?" Doc asked looking up at Drew. "Only that it was German and something about a mission." she replied. "Turn on the translator." Doc said. After she had done so, he looked back and repeated his question. "My mission is great! Lord Argost will punish me if I don't return with the cryptid data!" he yelled at Doc. "Why does he want the data?" Doc asked. "What you can understand me this is not good. I-" he started saying until a dart hit him in the neck. They turned to look and saw 3 more soldiers standing there. "Određeni član izaslanstvo je je propustila ubiti njima pa hajte izaći nad ovdje!" the man at the rear yelled before running back up the stairs. The two men brought there swords up and charged them, but Doc and Drew easily beat them. Komodo ran up the stairs with Doc and Drew close behind. "That wasn't German, it was Serbian." Drew said as they went. _Why are all these different men here_, Doc thought as they rushed up.

_Okay, this isn't going well_, Zak thought as his parents ran down the stairs. There were still about 30 men in the house and it was dangerous to move without looking first. Fisk had been hit in the arm and Doyle was limping a little. A man rushed for Doyle, but he easily dodged him. Fisk grabbed the guy and tossed him out the window. Doyle pulled out a grenade and tossed it down the hallway. BOOM! They rushed down to see that they had taken out 6 more men, but had come face to face with 15 more with rifles trained on them. "Les seves últimes paraules, ximples?" a man said. "Come again?" Zak asked. "He said any last words, you fools?!" yelled one of the man's comrades. Just as they were about to shoot, a grenade came flying into the center of their formation. "GRENADE!" one man yelled. 7 men went flying as the explosion went off. When we ducked behind a chair that was turned over, we saw 7 more troops jump in through the window. But they wore a different set of uniforms. Or at least what looked like a uniform. "Alpha team, suppressing fire! Bravo team, with me! Move!" the one at the front said. 4 of the troops concentrated fire on the troops that had broken into their house as the other 3 moved over to where we were crouched. "What did they want here?" the lead trooper, who happened to be a girl, asked. "We should be asking you that!" Zak yelled at her. _We don't even know who they are or you for that matter, _Zak thought. "So we have know idea what they're after?" she replied, sounding confused. She turned to the trooper behind her and said "Tell command that Ordo Ferrum troops have attacked innocent civilians with no clear objective. We need an evac ASAP!" As the trooper turned to send the call, they noticed that the last of the enemy troopers were down.

She stood up with them and asked "Casualties?" "They got Cooper, mam!" one soldier replied. On the floor was a man who had a bullet through his helmet. "I'm sorry for your lost." Zak said, grateful for the help they had gotten. Drew and Doc came up and noticed the new arrivals. "Zak what's goin-" "Don't worry Mom. These people helped us." Zak said before she finished asking her question. "Thank you for that." Drew said. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you guys?" Doc asked. "Oh yes sorry." The lead trooper said. She slung her rifle over her shoulder and removed her helmet. Red hair that was pulled into a ponytail fell out. Zak looked as she shook her head getting her senses back. She had a nice figure and a beautiful face. Her skin was similar to his, but a little lighter. Her eyes opened and he saw beautiful light-blue gems looking at him. _Wow she's pretty_, Zak thought. Then shook his head. _What am I thinking!_ "My name is Sayre. I'm a Corporal with the knights of the Novus Ordo. We were sent here to investigate some reports of Ordo Ferrum troops in the area. Any idea why they might be interested in this place?" she said. "We saw some men in our lab looking for something, but we weren't sure what. We tried questioning one that we got a hold off, but he got killed by a poison dart before we could get anything out of him other than he was working for a man named Argost." Doc replied. "Argost? The so called celebrity from Weird World? Do you know him?" she asked. "Yes we've fought with him before, but he never had this many men working for him." Drew said. "This isn't like the Ordo Ferrum. They never let an outsider take command of their forces." one of the troopers said. "You're right. What is it that you need the lab for?" she asked. "We're apart of the secret scientists. Our task is to research cryptids all over the world. We keep data on them all down in our lab." Drew replied. At this all of the knights started to look worried. "All of them?" someone asked, their voice sounding a little shaky. "Yeah, is something wrong?" Zak asked. "Yeah we know what they're after. They were trying to get that data so they could expose the existence of cryptids." Sayre replied. "That's bad. Even I know that shouldn't happen." Doyle said. "Can you get all the data on to a copy and destroy the original?" Sayre asked. "Yes of course, can you spare some men to help us?" Doc said. "Sure, Ren and Mark can help out" she said, relief showing on her face. While you're at it, I think it would be good idea for you to leave with us. The Ordo Ferrum troops will return in a greater force and we might not be able to beat them again." "Sure, Fisk and Doyle, can you grab the extra stuff we have in the hallway closets?" Drew asked. "Sure. Come on Fisk." Doyle replied, heading for the closets.

Everyone went about their tasks, while Sayre and 3 knights stayed with Zak and Komodo in the den. "So, you've fought Argost before?" Sayre asked trying to make conversation. "Yeah," Zak said. "What was he doing that made you guys fight him?" she asked. "He was trying to get a hold of this master cryptid called Kur. We kept fighting him at every turn until we finally beat him 5 years ago." Zak said, recalling how it ended. He noticed that Sayre and the knights were staring at him, focusing on what he was saying. "How did you beat him?" said a soldier with white hair. She had been the strangest one Zak observed. Something about her seemed different. "We traveled to Antarctica, finding this huge cryptid we thought was Kur, and defeating both it and Argost." he said. "Thought was Kur?" Sayre asked. Zak noticed all of them seemed on edge. He looked at Komodo. "Should I tell them?" he asked. "_Go ahead. They'll probably find out sooner or later since we're going with them._" he replied. "He said you can tell us so tell us!" Sayre almost shouted at him. _She understands him?_, Zak thought. "Well after we beat them, my uncle Doyle brought this old relic that glows whenever Kur is near. It started glowing and blinking its' eyes the closer Doyle got to us. Then my eyes started glowing along with it. It turns out that I was Kur." he said, finishing his story. They all looked to Sayre with smiles and shocked expressions on their faces. "Are you sure you're Kur?" she asked, a smile on her face as well. "Yeah, 100%. Why?" Zak said starting to get nervous. "No reason." was her answer. Everyone had come back during their conversation and was good to go. A Strom Dropship appeared outside as they left the house. Zon was lying on the grass dead. Zak stopped, kneeling down to close her eyes. _Goodbye Zon_, Zak thought to his self. Another dropship landed further away towards the woods and Zak noticed more knights loading up along with a few prisoners. "Zak come on!" Drew yelled. He got on board just as the dropship lifted off along with the other. The Saturday family looked back and saw their home on fire. More Ordo Ferrum troops had moved up the minute the dropships left. "Where are we going?" Zak asked, trying to keep his voice under control. "To your new home!" Sayre replied, noticing how sad he was. "Are you upset that your cryptid friend died?" Zak nodded. Then Sayre reached over and hugged him. Caught off guard, Zak hugged her back, thankful that someone knew what he was going through. _Argost, I will have my revenge. I swear it._ Zak thought.

Down on the ground with the Ordo Ferrum troops, Argost was being given a report. "Very well Lieutenant. Prepare for our departure." As he left, General Farin turned and said "Sir, the enemy escaped with the data, but don't worry I have a man on the inside who will show us where they're going." "Excellent Farin. Excellent." said Argost. "We shall not be deterred Saturdays. I will get what I want."

**Did you guys like it? Please review it once read. We want to hear your opinions before we continue. Knight4 wants us to wait until we get some reviews before we continue. Also, please don't be mad about us having Zon die. We wanted Zak to feel the need for vengeance later. Awaiting your replies, this is Knight3 of the 13 White Knights.**


	4. Arrival, Fate, and Assignment

**Hello everyone. This is Knight1 of the 13 White Knights. We have noticed that their have been about 140 hits for this story. I have only one thing to say. GREAT JOB! We intended to wait for more reviews first, but everyone's getting impatient. They want to go ahead and put the new post up. So here it is, courtesy of myself, Knight2, Knight5, and Knight7. The others I thank for gathering everything we needed to write this story. Now enough rambling.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

Arrival, Fate, and Assignment

They sat like that for a few minutes before they realized what they were doing. _I can't believe I just hugged him_, Sayre thought, realizing that she was blushing. Her squad mates were snickering at her. Even Asagi was trying not to laugh! _Now granted he is a cute guy, but I shouldn't be doing this._

_I can't believe I hugged her, _Zak thought. He saw Doyle and Fisk half-laughing at him. He felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. When he thought it had subsided, he turned back around and asked, "So, where are we going?" "I told you, to your new home." said the squad leader, whose name was Ken. "We know that. I think Zak was asking for a specific place." Doc said. "Oh! Right, um, well …" Ken started saying. "We're going to rendezvous with the _Redeemer_ and head for an island that's out in the pacific. It's where the headquarters for the entire Novus Ordo contingent is. The island's name is Altus, which in Latin means origin. It was the birthplace of the Novus Ordo." _Cool,_ Zak thought. As his parents began talking with the squad leader, he turned to look at the other knights in the bay. Most had their helmets on, but there were 4 with them off. One, his name Ren, was resting his head against the wall with his eyes shut. Another one, Mark if he remembered correctly, was looking his rifle over. Then he looked over to Sayre. She was talking with the white haired girl that Zak noticed seemed different. "Hey" Zak said. "Oh hey Zak, this is my sister Asagi." Sayre said noticing that he was looking at her confused. "If you don't mind me saying so, you seem different. Why is that?" he asked. "I'm a Zintari" Asagi replied. "A what?" Zak asked. "A Zintari. Here let me show you." she said. All of the sudden, wolf ear appeared out of her hair, he could see a tail pop out behind her, and she grew some fangs (not huge, but you could tell they were fangs). "Wow!" Zak said, intrigued by the transformation. "Yeah it's pretty exciting isn't it?" Sayre said. "Does that mean you're a Zintari too?" Zak asked. "No, she's my adopted sister. But I love her just the same." she replied. "Hey we've met up with the _Redeemer_." the pilot said. We looked out the side windows of the dropship and saw a huge ship flying just below us. "What is that?!" Doyle yelled. "It's the NOAS _Redeemer_." replied the pilot. "NOAS?" Zak asked. "It means Novus Ordo Aerial Ship." Sayre answered. "Nice," Doc said. The dropships landed in one of the side hangars the ship had. When they disembarked, the Captain, a man named Lars, met with them. "Welcome back everyone," he said. "And to our guests, welcome aboard the _Redeemer_." The Saturdays noticed that arrayed around him was what looked like the main officers on the ship. They all kept sneaking glances at Zak. _Why are they staring at me?_ Zak wondered. But before he could ask, him and his family were showed to their quarters and told that they would be arriving in about 4 hours. Zak was sharing a room with Fisk. "Hey Fisk, I'm going to catch a few z's" he said. "Can you wake me up when we get there?" "_Sure, Zak._" Fisk replied. Zak dosed off after about 5 minutes.

Sayre and her squad, well what remained of it, were being debriefed by Captain Lars. "Sayre, you're 100% sure that this is Kur reincarnated?" he asked after he had heard the report. "Yes sir. I asked him to show me his powers before we left. He checks out sir." she replied. "Very well. Has he shown any other signs that he is Kur?" "No sir." she replied. "All right. Looks like Matt's gonna have his hands full when we get back. 2nd Squad, Dragon Company get some well deserved rest. We arrive in three hours."

Zak woke up to Fisk shaking him awake. "Alright Fisk, I'm up already." Zak said. He got up, stretched, grabbed his satchel bag with his clothes and other gear in it, and headed out to meet with everyone else, Fisk following closely behind. He saw Doyle and Komodo already waiting at the ramp. He walked up and said "So, how was your room?" "Not bad. Komodo kept trying to eat all the food we got." They started laughing. Then Doc, Drew, Captain Lars, Sayre and her squad showed up. "If you would be so kind as to follow me." Captain Lars asked, moving ahead with some of the squad members flanking him. The Saturdays followed him, Zak sticking with Sayre the whole way. He looked all around him. The base was huge! Towers were up everywhere you looked, more air ships were docking or leaving, and there were knights and cryptids everywhere. They walked down what seemed to be the main road. The Saturdays noticed that everyone was looking at them. Some seemed to be curious, but most seemed to be excited about something. A crowd started to form as they moved to large command center in the middle of the base. "Why're they following us?" Doc asked, starting to get a little on edge. "Because my friends, they are excited about the news of who was coming to our base." a voice from up ahead said. They looked to see a formation of knights lining the stairs up to the base. On the steps were 7 people, one set ahead of the others. "Welcome to Altus!" the man said. "I am Captain Xavier, leader of the North American branch of the Novus Ordo. Behind me are the other leaders of the different branches of the Novus Ordo." He introduced us to Sam (human male, leader of the Australian branch), Alice (human female, leader of the European branch), Alexander (Zintari male, leader of the African branch), Marco (human male, leader of the South American branch), and Natsumi (Zintari female, leader of the Asian branch). The last man he didn't introduce. "So, I guess you're wondering why everyone is so riled up, huh?" Xavier asked. "Yes please explain." Doc said. "It is because our true leader has finally been found and brought to us!" Alexander said. "Really, do we get to meet him? Is he that guy right there?" Zak asked. Then the man let out a huge laugh. "No my boy, it is you. The reincarnation of Kur." he said. "WHAT?" everyone (the Saturdays) yelled. "Me?" Zak asked. "Yes. My name is Matt. I'm the one who will help you unlock your other powers" he replied. Zak and his family stared in disbelief, not quite sure how to react. _They're kidding right?_ Zak thought to himself. _I mean it would explain why everyone keeps staring at me, but are they sure they got the right person?_ "How are you so sure that Zak is the one you're looking for?" Doc finally asked, voicing what everyone was thinking. You could hear the distrust in his voice. "We know because of our history. You see.…" Matt replied. He spoke of ancient cryptids that no longer existed, the power given to the knights in return for saving them, and the name of the first leader of Novus Ordo and the war that erupted between them and the Ordo Ferrum (all of this info is on our main page). When he finished, Drew said, "Well, when you tell us that, it does sound like Zak is the one you're looking for, but why would you have a teenager lead an organization such as yours that is spread across the world?" "Exactly, he's only 16!" Doc said. "With all due respect Mr. Saturday, most knights join at the age of 14 and our last leader was the same age as Zak when he took control." Matt replied coolly. "Mom, Dad, I think it would be cool to join them." Zak said. "But Zak, you can't be serious." Doc said. "Dad, if these people have been waiting for me to come and lead them, I should at least try, right?" "Yes, but-" "No buts, I want to help them." Doc looked to Drew, who shrugged, seeing that they were losing the argument. "Fine, I give." Doc said, admitting defeat. "But we're coming too." "So am I, mini man." Doyle said. Zak looked up at Matt and the Captains. "So, what do you want us to do?" he asked.

They followed them up the steps and into a large meeting chamber. "Here is where we make decisions and carry them out. I feel it is fitting for this instance." Xavier said. "Doc, Drew, Fisk, and Komodo, we would like for you to join our research team and help them out with the cryptid data we have and combine it with yours. You would be in charge of the whole thing." "We can handle that." Doc and Drew both said. "Doyle, we would like it if you train some commando units for us. You would get paid if that's what you need." _Someone must have told them that Doyle likes to work for money_, Zak thought. "As for you Zak, Matt has an idea." Xavier said, stepping aside for Matt to speak. "You will join me for training everyday until we unlock your other powers: Fire and water control and shape shifting into an ancient cryptid." "Cool," Zak said. "You will be kept apart from the main group so as to concentrate on-" "No." Zak said, interrupting him. "Excuse me?" Matt said. "I want to do more than train. I want to help out here too. I want to become a knight." Zak said, thinking back to how cool it was seeing Sayre and her team in action. "You should do as your Matt says sir, for he…" Sam started to say before Matt interrupted him. "No it's fine. He's the same as our last leader was. Very well Zak. Sergeant Ken, would you come here for a moment?" Sayre's sergeant walked up from behind the Saturdays and came to attention. "Sir?" he asked. "You need some new recruits in your squad correct? Zak and I will be joining you for the time being." "Sir, yes sir." he replied. _Wow I'm going to be with Sayre_, Zak thought. He turned to see Sayre with a smile on her face. She quickly wiped it and went back to listening in on the conversation. Doc and Drew noticed this and had Zak pay attention to what was being said. "So it's settled." Xavier said. With that everyone went off to their areas.

_I can't believe I get to work alongside Zak_, Sayre thought. "Hey Sayre, can we talk with you for a moment?" Drew said. "Sure, what's up?" Doc and Drew looked at each other before continuing. "Since Zak is going to be with your unit we wanted to ask if you could keep an eye on him." Drew asked. "Sure, no problem I-" "But if anything happens to him, whether in combat or otherwise, we're going to come for you." Doc said, cutting her off. With that they left for the research department. _What was that about?_ Sayre thought, _I wonder what they meant by or otherwise._ She shrugged it off and left for her squads' quarters.

**What do you think? Zak starts his training soon and he gets to work with Sayre. Will they become best friends or something more? Let us know what you think. Also we'll be adding more characters as well. A poll has been set up on our profile for you to vote on what names sound good. This is the 13 White Knights saying thanks to all and we'll have the next chapter up soon.**


	5. First Command and Transformation

**To all who have reviewed our story or voted on our polls, we thank you. The new character profiles will be put up on our profile. Well here's the new chapter. We hope you like it. Also, we would really like to thank The Demon in the Asylum for her review. It really meant a lot to have someone put "pressure" on us. Anyways here's the update.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

First Command and Transformation

Three and a half weeks have gone by since Zak started his training as both a leader and a knight. He has learned to control water and fire (without accidentally causing a catastrophe) and unlocked his predecessor's memories of what he can do with those powers. He has trained with all manner of weapons ranging from close combat knives and swords to long range rifles, bazookas, and turrets. He has been put through hand signals and unit movements. He has learned to pilot fighters of all types and aerial ships. He has even learned to drive a tank. Now his final training just leaves piloting a hover bike before moving on to learn his power of transforming into an ancient cryptid.

"Hey Sayre!" Sayre turned to look and saw Doyle walking up to her. Behind him were 12 commandos that were in training. "Hey Doyle, what's up?" Sayre replied back. "Just wanted to show the newbies what their leader was up to." he said, looking around. "So, where is Zak?" "Oh, he's…" she started to reply, then all of the sudden they heard "WATCH OUT!" They ducked just in time as 3 people on hover bikes went roaring over their heads. Zak was out in front with his 2 trainers trailing. "Sir, please don't do it!" one of them yelled. Sayre watched as Zak headed straight for a training wall. The recruits by it started running, trying to get out of the way. He turned on the photon lasers and started rolling. The lasers struck the wall forming a weak spot in the metal. He headed straight at, turned off the lasers, and ran head first into the wall. Everyone in the training field watched as he not only hit the wall, but burst through it. "You've got to be kidding me!" one of the commando recruits said as Zak's trainers finally caught up with him and pulled around to come to a stop in front of Sayre and Doyle. "Hey Doyle, whatcha think?" Zak said as he dismounted the bike. "Not bad mini man, not bad." he said with a smirk on his face. "I thought it might be a good idea to bring my newest batch of recruits to see what you were up to. You see that guys? You always need to be able to think of new ideas and ways to push yourself further than you have before." "Yes sir!" yelled the recruits. "Sayre, mind reminding me why we had to train him to pilot a hover bike so early?" asked one of the trainers. "Because Zak has had to learn everything a knight learns in 6 months and attempt to get it down in 4 weeks, working 15 hours each day." Sayre replied. "Zak, Matt and the Grand Captains wanted to see you." "Okay let's get going." Zak said. They headed off to the central command center.

They walked in and saw Xavier, Matt, Natsumi, and Marco waiting for them. "Hey guys, where're the other captains?" Zak asked. "They had to return to their respective continents to deal with Ordo Ferrum attacks." Marco said. "So, what did you want to see me for Matt?" Zak asked. "First off, we already heard what you did on the training field." Matt said, noticing Zak shifting his gaze and rubbing his head. "Don't worry your not in trouble. We actually learned something new today. Second, this means that tomorrow we can learn your final ability. Third, we wanted to know how your squad was doing." Zak had been given command of a squad in Dragon Company, 2nd platoon. Sayre had been transferred to assist him as his corporal. Asagi and a man named Kenshin, who would serve as his communications expert, got transferred into his squad. He had mainly new recruits, just like the rest of the reinforcements for Dragon Company. The ones who stood out the most were the Zintari twins, Kasumi and Daisuke. Kasumi used her ability to turn invisible and walk through objects to serve as the squad's recon/spy personnel. Daisuke used his ability of super hearing to listen for enemy movement. Dragon Company's 1st platoon leader, Noriko, had helped Zak get used to command and his squad organized. She also happened to be Kasumi and Daisuke's older sister. Her sergeant, Yoshiro, didn't seem to like Zak, but he left that alone. "Everything's been going great." Zak said. "Alright, for the rest of the today enjoy yourself and relax. You've earned it." "Thanks! Come on Sayre." Zak said. As they left, Matt turned to Xavier. "So, he seems to be fitting in rather well huh?" "As long as he gets stuff done and is ready to lead us soon, he's doing great. By the way, how are you going to teach him to transform?" "I have an idea." Matt replied.

"So what do you think we should do?" Zak asked his squad as he returned to their barracks. "We have the rest of the day off and I'm itching to do something crazy." "As long as you don't cause another fire" Daisuke said. "Hey now that was an accident. I was still trying to get used to the firing controls of the tank. I didn't mean to misfire like that." Zak said, putting his hands up in mock defense. The squad started laughing. "Why don't we challenge 3rd squad to a game of basketball? We need to get even after they beat us at that volleyball match." "Sure let's go." Zak said. They walked over to 3rd squad and challenged them. They agreed and soon they were going at it on the basketball court. The rest of Dragon Company showed up to watch them play. Some were betting on who would win. Zak dribbled down the court, throwing it to Kenshin. He pivoted around the blocker and passed it to Sayre. She caught it, dodged around the blocker and shot the ball. It went in and everyone screamed in victory. "Good game guys!" 3rd squad's sergeant said. "Thanks." Zak said. After that, 2nd squad retired to their quarters. "I won't be with you guys tomorrow; I've got training with Matt tomorrow." Zak said. "Can we come and watch then?" one of the newbies asked. "I don't see why not. Sure come on over." With that they all went to bed.

The next morning, the squad got up and ready for the day. Once ready they moved over to the training field Matt reserved for Zak's Kur training. Matt was already there, setting up a projector of some sort. When they approached him, he looked up and was surprised to see Zak show up with his squad. "Hey Matt. Hope its okay for me to bring my squad here." Zak said. "No problem. You might actually try harder with an audience." Matt said as the squad started laughing. "Today you will learn to morph into an ancient cryptid. Since I only had the ability to control fire and water, you will be learning from the previous Kur." The whole squad started to talk amongst themselves. _I thought there hasn't been a Kur for over 100 years_, Zak thought. Matt turned on the projector and a recording came on. A hologram appeared over it. A man that looked like a 17 year old kid showed up. He wore a simple black t-shirt with a set of blue jeans on. "Hello. If you're watching this, then hopefully I'm speaking with my successor to the title Kur." Zak watched as the man changed from a man into a wolf like creature. It was the size of a tiger, had white fur with black tiger stripes, and had long fangs similar to a saber tooth. "And you're probably wondering how to turn into an ancient cryptid. I can't really teach you in words. But you have to envision yourself transforming and embrace it. Let the energy you feel flow through you." The man changed back into his original self. "Now you try." Matt paused the hologram. Zak took that as the time he was supposed to give it a shot. He closed his eyes and tried to see himself transform. At first, nothing seemed to happen. He felt pretty ridiculous. Then, all of the sudden, something inside him stirred. He felt warmth in his chest spread out throughout the rest of his body. He felt a strange sense of calm come over him and his senses seemed to sharpen. He opened his eyes and looked at Matt. He seemed clearer than before, somehow brighter. "Wow, you got it on the first try!" Matt said, sounding genuinely surprised. Zak turned to look at his squad, who was sitting in a semi-circle, and saw that they were giving him thumbs up and smiles. Zak looked back to Matt and concentrated on changing back. Once he was back in his original form, he looked back at the holo projector as Matt started back again. "If you're continuing this, it means you got the hang of it. The more you use it, the easier and faster it will become to transform. Before I end this, I have one more thing to say. I bet you're wondering why I chose you, Zak Saturday. The present Kur has the ability to name his successor and years may pass before that successor is born. I chose you because I received a vision that showed me not only would you lead the Novus Ordo to victory over the Ordo Ferrum, but that you would unify the different beings to resist a tyrannical empire. I wish you luck and good speed during your training. Oh, also, don't ever pass up on a good thing." With that the holo ended.

_So Zak is destined for something even greater than finally defeating the Ordo Ferrum_, Sayre thought. "Any questions?" Matt asked. "Well, I wanted to know if you knew what he meant by unifying the different beings?" Zak asked. "I have no clue. I received that holo from my elder, who trained me to be ready for the reincarnation of Kur." "Okay, so what now?" "Well, until we have an assignment for you, just relax for once and have fun." Matt replied. With that, Zak thanked Matt for training him and left with his squad. "So what should we do now?" Kasumi asked. "Why don't we go to town tonight?" Sayre said. "Wait, there's a town here?" Zak asked, surprised by this. "Yeah in the center of the island is a town where the families of the knights live. There's a lot to do there." she replied. "Well, how about we all go out on the town tonight then?" Zak suggested. The whole squad agreed. They all went their separate ways to pass time till later tonight.

**So, what did you think? We'll post the next chapter soon. If you have suggestions on something you might want to see in the story let us know. If we like it, we might add it in. Till the next chapter, this is Knight1 of the 13 White Knights.**


	6. Night Out

**Hey guys. We have someone who wants to become a White Knight. We were going to say no, but we thought we'd give them a shot. They wrote this story with the info we gave them and after they read the first chapters. Let us know what you think.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

Night Out

Zak and his squad rode in the back of a troop truck on the way into the town. "So what should we do first?" Zak asked his squad. "Don't know." one of his men, a Solarian, said. "How about we hit the clubs?" Daisuke yelled. "You know we can't, they serve alcohol remember." a Lamian trooper said. "There are clubs that don't serve beer you know." Daisuke replied, a smirk showing on his face. "Well then let's hit one of them." Zak said. He turned to talk to the driver. "Can you take us to the best club in town that doesn't serve alcohol?" "No problem guys. I'll take you to the Twilight Tiger. It's the best club of all." the driver replied.

They pulled up to the Twilight Tiger. As the squad filed out, Zak noticed Sayre looking at him. "What's up?" "Oh, nothing. Hey Asagi, wait up." she replied, running after her sister. _Wonder what that was about? She looks beautiful tonight, maybe I should try something, _Zak thought.

_He saw me staring at him! He probably thinks I'm an idiot or a space cadet, _Sayre thought. "Are you thinking about Zak again?" Asagi asked. "Yeah," Sayre replied. "Maybe I should just focus on having fun with the squad." "Girl, you need to try and have some fun with him!" Kasumi said, hearing their conversation. "What?!?!" Sayre said, shocked at what Kasumi said. "Yeah, don't be embarrassed. Try something!" _I guess I could give it a shot, _Sayre thought. With that she entered the club behind the others.

"You gonna finally try something with Sayre, Zak?" Daisuke asked. Zak was hanging out near the back of the club's lounge area with Daisuke and Kenshin. "I don't know. What if I just make a fool of myself or she doesn't like me?" "You're worrying too much man. Look, just ask her to dance at least." Kenshin said. Zak looked over at Sayre. While the other squad members were dancing or playing in the pool hall, she was standing near the drink area with Asagi and Kasumi. "I guess I could." Zak said. He walked over to Sayre. "Would you like to dance, Sayre?" he asked, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. To his surprise, her cheeks turned red as well. "Sure!" she said. She handed her drink to Kasumi and followed him onto the dance floor.

_I can't believe he asked me to dance!_ Sayre thought. They put their hands in each other's and started to move with the music. They twisted, twirled, and moved to the beat of the songs. They went on like that for about 20 minutes before they finally thought it would be good to take a break. "That was great!" Sayre said. She grabbed Zak's arm and dragged him up to the balcony on the second floor. They looked up at the stars in the sky. "Isn't it beautiful?" Sayre said, leaning her head on Zak's shoulder. "Yeah, it really is. I'd say it's the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Zak replied. "What's the first?" "You," he replied. _Oh my god, I can't believe I said something as stupid as that! _Zak thought. _He thinks I'm the most beautiful thing he's seen!_ Sayre thought. "Am I really?" she asked. "Yes you are." Zak replied. They looked at each other, staring into each other's eyes. They leaned forward and kissed. They stayed like that for about a minute before they heard something. They broke apart and saw that Kasumi, Kenshin, Asagi, and Daisuke walking onto the balcony. "So, you guy's finally hooked up huh?" Kasumi and Daisuke said at the same time. "Yeah, we did." Zak replied, hugging Sayre with his arms around her waist and hers around his neck. Asagi ran over and hugged her sister. "It's about time sis!" she said. Kenshin came over and slapped Zak on the back real hard. "Nice going man." he said, a broad smile on his face.

After everyone was done congratulating them, including the rest of the squad, Sayre and Zak said they'd meet up with them later. They went for a walk down at the park nearby. "So, does this mean we're going out now?" Zak said. "Sure does!" Sayre said, hugging his arm as they walked up to the lake. Other couples were there as well, talking, walking around the lake, or swimming in the lake. They sat down in a spot away from the others and started talking about all sorts of stuff. They stayed there for about 2 hours, occasionally kissing, before heading back to the club. The squad was already starting to load up into the truck. They climbed in and sat down on one of the side benches. Sayre rested her head on Zak's shoulder as they rode back to the base. Once they returned to the base, the squad went to there barracks. They changed out of their uniforms and into their pajamas. Slowly one by one they fell asleep, until only Sayre and Zak were up. "Goodnight Zak," Sayre said, bending over to kiss him. "Goodnight Sayre." he replied. With that Zak fell asleep.

Unknown to him, an individual had been spying on them the whole night. The figure slipped into a barracks with a communication grid. The platoon inside watched as he approached the communication screen. After typing in a security code, he activated it. "Sir, Kur has finished his training and it seems he's picked up a girlfriend as well." the man said. Around the room, soldiers were laughing at this. "Agent 17, good work as always. Are you under suspicion yet?" said the man on the screen. "No sir, everyone's too occupied trying to figure out what we're up to." "Good, keep me informed of Kur's movement and activities. If he is sent out on a mission, inform us immediately." "Yes sir, Agent 17 out." With that, the platoon dispersed to their assigned posts.

"See, my man has everything under control." Farin said, turning to Argost. "Indeed he does. Make sure he reports in more often. It would have been nice to try and drag out his training some more." Argost replied. "However, we must deal with what we are given. Send our envoy to Europe for his mission and prepare our armies to move on Africa. I say we've waited long enough." With that, Argost and Farin left to go about their tasks. The revolution was about to begin.

**Hey guys, this is the newbie Knight1 was talking about. I wrote this chapter. I don't have a computer myself and only get to mess around with stuff during computer web mastering class. I want to join the group so I can be able to do stuff on fanfiction with people who want to have fun like me. I heard about the White Knights from Knight5, who happens to be my friend. Please read and review. If you like it, they say they'll let me join. PLEASE REVIEW. Till the next chapter, this is the newbie.**


	7. Zak’s First Assignment and An Old Rival

**Hello to all our readers. Last time, we posted a chapter written by someone who wanted to join us. Even more recently, someone sent out a request from our account to our favorite authors asking for reviews to our story. This was committed by a friend of both Knight5 and the member-in-training who posted the chapter. Because of what happened as a result, Knight1 only has one thing to say. WE LOVED IT! Thanks to them, we have gotten some great suggestions from our favorite authors and some anonymous reviewers. We now hand it over to the newest members of the White Knights, Knight14 and Knight15. **

**Hey everyone! It's us Knight14 and Knight15! Thanks to all of you who responded to our requests for reviews, we've been admitted into the White Knights! We thank everyone who helped us out there. Especially ****CROCODILE DUNDEE, ****crazyrightnow3417****, Saturday, ****The Demon in the Asylum****, Kitten96, ****Gatita101****, ****KaliAnn****, ****Moonstar 11****, ****Scarpaw****, and ****moon-mistery**. **And for Kitten96, we won't be adding Ulraj in this story, but thanks to you we will add Francis (this chapter) and Wadi (next chapter). Ulraj will appear in the sequel to this story. ****Now enough nonsense talking! On to the next chapter!**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

Zak's First Assignment and An Old Rival Reunite

It was finally morning. Zak looked out the window of his squad's room in the barracks. Most of his squad had already left to go get in some more training. He watched as Sayre, her sister, and some of the other's in his squad headed for the track. He was still thinking about how everything happened last night. _I can't believe it. Sayre and I are finally going out! _Zak thought, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. _Guess I should get dressed._

He turned to change into his Novus Ordo uniform. He put on the silver undershirt, then his black zip-up hoodie with the orange dragon on it. On his left shoulder was the Saturday family crest. He pulled on his khaki pants and put on his black combat boots. He walked over to his trunk at the end of his bed and pulled out his combat belt that had his pistol and claw attached and put it on.

"Hey Zak! You ready to go yet?" Daisuke yelled, impatiently waiting by the door with Kenshin. They had both decided to stick around with him for the day.

"Yeah, let's head out." Zak shouted back, wondering how they talked him into letting them come with him.

They walked down the stairs of the barracks and out the door. Zak had decided it was time to check in on his family. First, they were going to visit his Uncle Doyle and his commandos-in-training. Then they would head over to the cryptid homes to visit his brothers. Finally, they would stop by to see his parents in the research department.

As they approached the commando training fields, they saw some training with jet pack maneuvers. They found Doyle and some of his trainers (former trainees) practicing hand to hand combat with the trainees. Doyle and his commando graduates were throwing the trainees around like dolls.

"Uncle Doyle! What's up?" Zak shouted, waving at him.

"Huh?" his confused uncle said.

At that time, the trainee he was fighting saw his chance and tackled Doyle down to the ground. He managed to pin him and was so shocked he was able to that he didn't let go right away.

"Alright Marcus, you can let go now!" Doyle grunted in pain.

"Oh! Sorry Colonel!" the recruit replied sharply. He let go of Doyle and helped him up. The whole platoon was laughing at the sight of Doyle caught off guard. Even Zak, Daisuke, and Kenshin were laughing.

"So what's up mini man?" Doyle asked, stretching as he walked over to them.

"We just wanted to see what you were up to." Zak replied, still laughing at what had happened. "If I had known you were getting you're butt kicked around by some trainee I would have brought a camera!"

"Watch it mini man! You just surprised me is all." Doyle remarked, causing Daisuke and Kenshin to stop laughing. "Besides, I already heard about what happened between you and Sayre last night."

Zak stared at his uncle, speechless. He finally snapped out of it and asked "What do you mean. It just happened! How do you even know?!"

"Man, the whole island is talking about it. Kur reincarnated has a girlfriend? That type of news spreads pretty fast." Doyle replied. This time it was his turn to laugh. Zak turned red as the whole commando platoon started laughing with Doyle.

"Alright come on guys. Let's go see what my brothers are up to?" Zak said, turning around so that no one could see his face. Kenshin and Daisuke followed behind him, snickering at him acting so foolishly.

Next, they arrived at the cryptid settlement. It was a forested part of the island, where the cryptids felt most at home. Some cryptids did build houses out here, whether it was a small hut or a medium sized house. They found komodo wandering around with some other komodo dragons. He told them that Fisk was hanging around the western part of the woods. As they headed over there, they noticed the buildings becoming more packed together. There were dozens of Lemurians every where they looked. They all had different colored fur and markings on them. They found Fisk talking with some similar colored Lemurians (looked like him) and walked over to him.

"Hey Fisk, I see you've made some friends." Zak happily said to his brother.

"_Yeah, I did. I never thought I'd meet some more Lemurians like me. But this place has hundreds of them. I've gotten to know more about my race then I could've learned by myself." _Fisk hurriedly said, trying to catch up on events with his brother. While they caught up, the other Lemurians brought up some food and water for everyone. They snacked on the lunch and had some fun telling stories. The funniest was the one Daisuke brought up about Zak almost burning down the tank compound. Eventually, Zak and his friends said their goodbyes and headed for the research and development facility.

They reached the facility around 5:00 pm. Sayre and Asagi were also there. They meet up and walked inside. The place was huge. They were in a central lounge area. Surrounding it were several levels of the building. They walked up to the front desk.

"Excuse me, where can we find Doctors Drew and Doc Saturday?" Zak asked, sounding a little nervous. He hadn't seen his parents in a month, ever since he started his training. He even had a girlfriend now! How was he supposed to tell his parents that one?

"Yes sir, they're on the Basement level 6, sector 18." the receptionist replied, smiling at them as she handed them a map.

"Thank you mam," Sayre cheerfully said, but you could hear her voice cracking a little. _I can't believe I'm here right now!_ she thought, nervous about seeing the Saturdays now. She recalled how wary they had been when they found out their son would be training away from them and apart of her unit.

They arrived at the department where Zak's parents were working. They went through the doors and saw his parents talking to a black haired man in a long sleeved white shirt.

"Mom! Dad!" Zak yelled, running over to them with the others right behind him.

"Zak!" Drew said, surprise and happiness coming over her face, "How have you been baby?" She pulled Zak into a tight hug as Doc put his hand on Zak's head.

"It's been going great! I just finished training yesterday, so I thought I'd stop by and see you guys." Zak replied, trying to hide his nervousness from them. Then he noticed that the man his parent's had been talking to was hugging Sayre and Asagi.

"Who's he?" Zak loudly asked.

"Oh yeah, Zak, Daisuke, Kenshin, this is our older brother Michael." Asagi said, smiling at how confused the others looked.

"It's nice to meet you guys. Especially you, Zak," Michael asked, offering his hand to Zak. "Since your not only our future leader, but you also happen to be dating my sister."

"What?!?!" Doc and Drew yelled in surprise.

"Oh, was that supposed to be a secret?" Michael asked, his face turning from smug happiness to panic and worry.

"Well, not anymore. Besides they were bound to find out, the words been spreading around the whole island." Daisuke said, laughing at the reaction Drew and Doc gave to the news.

"Oh, my baby has a girlfriend!" Drew yelled, pulling her son into an even tighter hug.

"Mom! Can't…breathe…" Zak struggled to say.

"When did this happen?" Doc suspiciously asked as Drew let Zak go.

"It happened last night when the squad went out to celebrate Zak's final day of training," Sayre answered as Zak came and put his arm around her waist. She did the same as she continued, "We danced and talked, then one thing lead to another and we kissed."

"That's wonderful! Isn't it Doc?' a menacing Drew asked.

"Of course it is." Doc admitted. He still sounded like he didn't approve.

"I hope so. My daughter should be happy just like your son, don't you think?" a heavy voice behind them said. The group turned and noticed Grand Captain Xavier walking up. With him were Grand Captain Natsumi and someone in a green lab coat.

_Why does he look familiar? _Zak thought. He was wearing heavy boots and strange glasses. His hair was a shade of green. _Wait a second! It can't be!_

"Francis?" Zak said, looking dumbfounded.

"Hello Zak, long time, no see huh?" he smugly replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"I joined the Novus Ordo a year ago. I'm Doctor Michael's apprentice here."

"Yeah, he is Zak. You know him?" Michael asked, watching the scene unfold with great interest.

"You could say that." Zak growled.

"Well enough of the chit chat. I'm afraid we have a problem." Xavier said. "Natsumi, if you'd be so kind?"

"Of course. We just received word that the Ordo Ferrum armies have laid siege to Grand Captain Alexander and the African branch of the Novus Ordo. The bases and outposts in those areas have either been destroyed or are currently facing destruction."

"What?"

"That can't be!"

"How could this happen?"

"Calm down. Panicking won't help us here." Natsumi ordered before she continued. "Grand Captain Sam has attempted to send reinforcements from Europe, but Ordo Ferrum aerial forces are preventing this. Therefore, I've dispatched Middle Eastern contingents of the Asian Novus Ordo branch to rescue whatever forces they can. They have landed some forces along the western parts of Africa first, since they are farthest from friendly territory. Because of this, only a few forces have been dispatched to the eastern parts of Africa. With the permission of the Grand Captains, we're dispatching the 12th, 56th, and 67th armies to reinforce and assist in the evacuation."

"That's our standby armies. Isn't Dragon Company apart of the 67th army?" Michael asked.

At this, everyone started to worry. _So this means we're moving out. _Zak thought._ My first real combat mission._

"When do we move out?" Zak replied, his voice shaking.

"Immediately." Xavier answered, his voice heavy.

With that the Grand Captains left. Francis told them he'd be serving as they're Intel officer aboard the _Silver Thunder_. They would be reinforcing the unit rescuing the 92nd army, the personal army of Grand Captain Alexander. They would be reinforced by 3 other ships, the _Lions Fang_, _Electrocuter_, and _Gauntlet_. After that, Zak and his friends said their goodbyes and left. Before they could however, Drew ran after her son, giving him one last hug. Doc walked over and hugged him as well.

"Son, do your best and come home safely, ok?" Doc asked, his face torn between pride and sadness.

"I will dad."

"Here Zak, take this." Drew said, handing him a katana with blue and yellow markings. "I had this sword made just for you. It's a thunder katana."

"Thanks mom," a surprised Zak said. "I'll use it well."

They left in a hurry back to the barracks to grab their gear. The rest of the battalion was busy getting ready and heading for the docks. Zak grabbed his rifle and ammunition. He put his light armor on under his uniform like the others were and grabbed his helmet. He put it on and dropped the face plate. The optics and intel started scrolling down his helmet's built in screen. When it was done he ran with his platoon to the loading docks and boarded the _Silver Thunder_. His platoon split into their squad and went to their assigned dropships. It would take 2 hours at high speed for the task unit to reach Alexander.

"All hands, full speed ahead!" the Commodore announced.

_Here we go_, Zak thought. He looked around the inside of the dropship at his squad. For many just like him, this would be their first real combat mission. He watched out the back of the dropship's loading ramp as the air outside the bay rushed past the ship. _Hope we can do this. Hope I can do this._

Sayre watched as Zak took in everything around him. _No matter what, I have to protect Zak_. She watched as he looked at her. He gave her a thumbs up and, if she had to take a guess, he was smiling at her too. She gave him a smile back as they took off. _He's the future leader of the Novus Ordo. He has to survive._

**At the base of Alexander**

"Sir, our agent says that Kur and the army he's assigned to is heading this way." a colonel reported to Farin. The Ordo Ferrum troops had taken the outer defense of the base, but were having trouble taking the inner wall. The knights serving under Alexander were putting up a decent fight.

"Thank you. Lord Argost, he's on his way here." Farin said turning to Argost, who was sitting on top of a mobile command vehicle.

"Excellent. Have Van Rook prepare his strike force. He'll take care of the reinforcements that the fools of Novus Ordo think will help save this base." Argost said, an evil smirk coming to his face. _And this time, you will be the one who goes home broken, little Saturday!_

**Next chapter, the rescue of Alexander and his forces begins. Will Zak and the rest of the reinforcements succeed in rescuing the Africa branch of the Novus Ordo? Or will Argost crush his first Grand Captain? Please read and review.**


	8. The Rescue and Reuniting of Friends

**Here's the battle chapter we promised. Also, we wanted to go ahead and do this at least once. We don't own the Secret Saturdays, but we do own all the characters, aliens, and groups described in the story that are posted on our profile. With that out of the way, on with the chapter!**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

The Rescue and Reuniting of Friends

The dropships were coming in fast. Zak looked out the view port at the ground below. The Ordo Ferrum troops had broken through the outer walls and there was fighting both in and outside of the base area. Zak watched as the first and second wave of dropships carrying knights of the 67th army land outside the base walls and start charging and mixing with the Ordo Ferrum troops fighting the last of the 92nd army. He watched as knights and troops clashed in hand to hand combat or fired rounds of bullets into each others lines.

"Sergeant Zak! We're nearing the drop zone!" the dropship pilot yelled.

"All right!" Zak grunted. He turned to face his squad, noticing them already standing at the ready. Dragon Company and the rest of the 43rd Brigade were assigned to go inside the base and rescue any knights still inside. Priority was given to Grand Captain Alexander and the commander of the rescue force from the Middle East.

"We drop in 20 seconds!" the pilot yelled again.

"Remember guys, this is what we've trained for!" Zak said to his squad, trying to get them into their fighting mind. "Don't forget everything you've learned and you will survive! Keep with the squad and make sure to identify your targets before shooting!"

"Sir, yes sir!" was the loud reply from his knights.

"Get ready guys! And good luck!" Zak ordered.

The pilot dropped down and opened the ramp. The squad rushed out and ran up to the remains of a burned out building. Bullets were already wising past the side of the building. Zak watched as other dropships landed to drop more of Dragon Company in the courtyard of the base. Unfortunately, one dropship got hit by four rockets at once. It was blown to smithereens.

"Which squad was in there?" Zak asked, afraid that it may have been his platoon leader.

"It was 3rd platoon's 2nd squad!" a calm voice replied. Zak saw that it was Kenshin speaking. He looked like he was communicating with another of his special abilities radio group. "Lieutenant Rasiro wants us to follow Captain Greg and the rest of 3rd platoon into the main building. Without their other squad, they can't cover the whole building as planned."

"Alright, let's move out!" Zak cried out as they rounded the corner on the other side of the building. They ran forward, protected by the covering fire from 2nd platoon. As they hit a back alley, 4 soldiers came out a side door. They were Ordo Ferrum troops. Before they could bring their weapons up into firing position, the squad opened up on them. They crumbled into a heap on the ground.

"Be sure to check the doors as you move along!" Zak barked, focused on trying to get to Dragon Company's captain and 3rd platoon. They rushed through the back alleyways, occasionally coming across some Ordo Ferrum troops. As they got closer to the command building, they saw it was just as big as the headquarters on Altus. They ran across the open field in front of it and made it inside.

"Bought time you guy's got here!" a gruff voice sounded from the right. Zak and his squad raised their weapons towards the voice only to see members of 3rd platoon standing there.

"What do you mean by that, huh?" Kasumi shot back at the speaker, a young Phasman male.

"Easy everyone!" a second voice called out. Then they saw Captain Greg and Lieutenant Viktor walk up to them. They both seemed beat up a little.

"What happened to you?" Zak inquired.

"There's a special brigade in here fighting Alexander and his combined forces of the 92nd army and the rescue group from the Middle East. We cleared the basement levels and managed to link up with some more knights. They'll be guarding the ground floor as we go check the 4 floors above us." Captain Greg said, issuing commands as he went. "We believe Alexander and the rescue force's commander are somewhere on the top floor. 3rd Platoon's first squad will check out the second floor, 2nd Platoon's second squad will check the second floor, and 3rd Platoon's third squad will check the fourth floor. Once done, we'll meet up on the fourth floor and leave some men behind to cover our exit, while the rest check out the fifth floor. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" the squad leaders answered.

"Alright, Lieutenant Viktor will join up with first squad and I'll go with third squad. That leaves you to take care of your own squad Sergeant. Now let's move out!"

With that, everyone went to their designated floors, leaving behind about 25 knights to guard the first floor. When Zak and his squad arrived on the third floor, they set up a security group on the stairs and moved out. The third floor was mainly a bunch of offices, but there was a small rec center in the middle of the whole thing. First they split into teams of 6 and went down the two hallways, Zak leading the first one (Alpha team) and Sayre having control of the second (Bravo team). They checked the offices out first as they went down the hallways.

**Alpha team's POV**

Alpha team only found a few injured knights. Zak had two of his men take them back to the stairs with the other members of his squad waiting. When they returned, he had them continue down the hall. _Why does this feel too easy? _Zak thought, feeling uneasy about how smoothly this was going.

**Bravo team's POV**

Sayre and her team moved quietly down the hall. _Where is this so called elite brigade Captain talked about?_ she thought. Before she finished that sentence, 8 men wielding swords and firing wrist lasers jumped out. Sayre and her team took cover and started to return fire. She managed to nail one right below the helmet/mask he was wearing and hit his throat. The soldier crumpled beneath the blow. The 5 wielding swords charged them and managed to get in close to them. Sayre threw her weapon aside and drew her katana. She batted away the first sword and crossed blades with the second one she came into contact with. She used her handle to bash against the man's gloved fingers. He let out a cry at the pain it caused him before Sayre grabbed his hand, twisted the sword from his grip, and brought her own sword down across his chest. She turned to confront the man she had pushed aside to see Daisuke thrust his sword through him. He nodded to Sayre before moving up to join her and another knight in confronting the last 3 swordsmen. Kasumi and the other 2 knights were firing at the 2 men with rifles, keeping them pinned as the fight went down.

**Alpha team's POV**

"Anybody hear that?" Zak inquired, the sounds of gunfire and metal on metal growing louder.

"It's probably Sayre and her group fighting whatever ambush they fell into." Kenshin replied, worry settling in to his voice.

"Alpha team, move, move, move!" Zak screamed as they took off down the hallway.

**Bravo team's POV**

Sayre and her team were still fighting the troops that ambushed them. Daisuke and the man he was fighting had wound up struggling on the ground, their swords knocked away. The other knight was struggling just like she was. _These guys are good!_ She finally saw an opening and stabbed the guy through the chest. She turned to confront the man who was overpowering the other knight to see that the knight was on the ground. The Ordo Ferrum trooper turned to face her just as she stabbed her sword through his helmet. He collapsed instantly. She saw Daisuke finally manage to shoot the guy on top of him with his pistol. They got up to deal with the last two soldiers when she saw them fall to the floor. Standing behind them was Alpha team.

**Back to regular POV**

As they caught up with each other, Sayre knelt down to see which knight had been killed. It was Jacob, one of the new guys in the unit. She closed his eyes and put his helmet on his chest. As she got up, Zak looked her in the eye.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, they got Jacob though."

"We'll come back for him. Until then we've got to check the rec area and link up with the Captain."

"Ok." She stopped to grab her rifle and sheathed her katana.

They went into the rec area and saw nothing but dead bodies lying around. From both sides.

"Must've been a big fight." Kenshin remarked.

"Yeah, looks like it." Zak looked down to see a kid who couldn't have been much older than him staring at him with lifeless eyes. "Let's head back to the stairs."

As they approached the stairs, they saw Asagi and the two knights they left behind sending the last injured man down to the ground floor. They linked up and headed for the fourth floor. Once there, they found the others already waiting for them. First squad had only half their members left while third squad still had all but 4 of their own.

"I see you faired better than us, huh Sergeant Zak?" Captain Greg inquired as the squad approached them.

"We engaged 8 enemy soldiers and lost one of our men," Zak solemnly replied.

"I see. Well then, let's continue on shall we?" he said, waving his hand to follow him. "Seeing how everything turned out, I'm leaving first squad and 3 members of third squad behind to guard the stairway with Lieutenant Viktor. You and the rest of third squad will accompany me up the central stairs here to locate and rescue Alexander and the rest of the forces trapped here."

"Alright, let's move out then shall we?" Zak said, falling in behind the Captain.

As they walked up the central steps to the fifth floor, they heard fighting. They approached the door and moved to either side of it. Two men, one from Zak's squad and one from third squad, went over to the double doors and waited for the signal to open them. With a nod from the Captain, they slowly opened the door, only to be ripped apart from bullets firing. Third squad's demo man flung a couple of grenades in. After the explosion, they rushed into the room. 3 men were sprawled out on the floor near a machine gun. After making sure they were down, they proceeded down the hallway to where the fighting was coming from.

They came into a large open space where they found two forces fighting in hand to hand combat. On one side was the elite brigade of the Ordo Ferrum army and on the other was…

"Alexander!" Captain Greg yelled, pointing over on the far right side of the room. There he was along with several other knights fighting with swords and bare fists against the Ordo Ferrum troops. "Sling your rifles, they won't be much good here!"

Following his command, they slung their rifles and drew their katanas and charged into the fray. They tore through the Ordo Ferrum troops, who hadn't been expecting reinforcements for the knights.

Zak saw Sayre tear through them like a graceful dancer, yet with such ferocity. He turned to confront the soldiers opposing him. He ducked one trooper's blade and made a backward slash at him, catching him in the side. He brought the thunder katana up just in time to block the next two swords that came down. He knocked them back and kicked out at the one nearest him. The trooper went flying backward as the other brought his sword up above his head. _Rule one in sword to sword fighting, never bring the blade above your head_. Zak recalled his trainer's words. He thrust his katana through the man's chest and managed to bring it out in time to slash it across the first man's stomach. He saw the others in his squad fighting just as hard as he was and winning. They kept pushing towards Alexander and the other knights. Sayre and Zak both reached Alexander at the same time with their squad close behind.

"Grand Captain Alexander, we're here to get you out of here!" Captain Greg said, before Zak could even ask if he was ok.

"You all have my thanks, but we can't leave yet. The Middle Eastern Commander is caught behind the enemy with only a few knights for help. Last I saw, they were fighting the enemy commander." Alexander replied, drawing in some heavy breaths as he finally had a chance to rest. The knights had begun to push back the elite brigade now that their line was crumbling.

"I'll take some knights to go get them. With your permission sir." Sayre offered, turning to Zak.

"Sure, we'll stay behind to take care of Alexander. Captain? I think we should check in on Lieutenant Viktor while we wait."

"Of course, yes, yes we should." Captain Greg agreed turning to third squad's radio telepath.

Sayre took Kasumi, Daisuke, and 4 other knights down the last hallway on the fifth floor. They came to the last open space and saw 6 knights holding their own against 17 elite troopers. Sayre had her team bring up their rifles and opened fir on the ones away from the knights. When several of them fell, Sayre and 2 others went forward with their swords to take care of the last elites. Sayre dodged a tackle from one of them and brought her katana down on another's head. She turned to face the Middle Eastern leader taking the elite commander on in hand to hand. The commander had a yellow uniform with a mask/helmet on and a jet pack. The Middle Eastern leader had on black pants, a pink long sleeve shirt, and a silver scarf like thing around her neck. She had on the standard Fate7 helmet so she couldn't tell what her face was like.

"So, you had enough yet Van Rook?" the commander said, a small accent showing in the young voice.

"Not on your life, little girl!" a heavy Russian accent answered from the elite commander, presumably Van Rook, as he swung to hit the woman in the chest. She easily dodged it and brought her fist up into his chin, knocking him back.

"What I don't get is why you're here? You usually go solo when working for Argost." she said as she struck a fighting pose, waiting for him to come at her. Sayre saw the commander signaling for her to sneak up on Van Rook.

"When I get to train as many apprentice's as I want, with a bonus for each one trained plus my large fee playing soldier for this army is enough to bring me back into the war games." he answered, a slight hint of pride and pleasure in his voice.

With that, Sayre brought her katana down on his jetpack. As quick as lightning, the commander grabbed something from Van Rook's belt. She almost didn't see it.

"What- No- Argh!" Van Rook yelled as his jet pack sent him flying out the window in the room. Without their leader, the last troopers used their jet packs to flee as well. Sayre surveyed the area. 2 of her knights and 3 of the commanders had fallen in the fight. She turned back to face the commander as she and the last 2 knights with her walked up.

"Am I allowed to presume you're apart of our rescue?" the commander asked.

"Yes mam. Excuse me for asking, but did you know that man?" Sayre inquired, interested in the conversation they were having.

"Unfortunately, yes. I met him 5 years ago when I helped-" she began, but then a knight interrupted her.

"Mams, we should probably get going."

"Yes, you're right. I'll let you know the story later. Let's go." she said.

They went back to the main group. Zak was relieved when he saw Sayre return, but then he noticed that not all of the knights returned. He knew what that meant. Then he noticed the commander she had brought back. She looked at him and it seemed like she stopped in her tracks. Her head cocked to one side, she just stared at him. Feeling a little uncomfortable, Zak was glad when Sayre came up to him.

"Where's Captain Greg?" she inquired, noticing him gone.

"Something was going on down on the first floor so he had Lieutenant Viktor go and check it out, but he never checked in. When that happened, he went down himself. He should be checking in soon." Zak answered.

Sayre noticed Grand Captain Alexander lying down on the floor. "What's wrong with him?"

"He had been on his last strength when we got here, so he's tired. He also has a blow to the head we didn't notice at first and he's losing some blood. We had to sedate him to keep him from panicking."

"Zak! We're getting word from Francis and Captain Greg at the same time." Kenshin shouted, rushing over to Zak. "Which do you want to take first?"

"The one from Captain Greg."

Kenshin patched him through on his com pad. "Sergeant! Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir."

"Listen well! We've been overruned down here! Someone's told them where Alexander is and they've diverted their forces here." He paused as he had to deal with an attack from a trooper that cam up behind him before continuing. "I'll hold them as long as I can. Call in some dropships and get everyone out of there! I've sent the wounded back up to you and they should be there now." Sure enough they arrived just as he said they would. "God speed men. Live to fight another day!" With those final words, the link went dead.

"Oh no." Sayre said, clasping her hands over her mouth.

"Alright, calm down everyone. Kenshin patch in Francis and Daisuke take some men and cover the stairs." As Daisuke went to do as he was told, Francis came through on the com pad.

"Zak! Our forces can't hold much longer. All forces in Africa have pulled out now! We're the last ones. The fleet is taking fire and won't wait much longer. Have you located Alexander?"

"Yes, we have him, but he's injured with a head wound. We need an evac now."

"Alright, I have 7 Storm Dropships inbound to your position. Over and out."

Now all that was left to do was wait. As they were waiting, the Storm Dropships arrived. They had to blow a hole in the roof to get them in. First out were the injured and Alexander. They took up 4 dropships. Next out was the remains of Alexander's knights. On the second to last one out, the Middle Eastern knights loaded up, but their commander stayed behind to load up with Zak's squad. As they waited for the last dropship, Kenshin said he had another message from Captain Greg.

"Sir? Are you still there?" Zak asked.

"Yes, but barely. I had to call you real quick. I think we've been betrayed. I saw some Novus Ordo knights talking with Ordo Ferrum troops. I even got a look at the leader's face. It was…" he started to say, but then a pistol appeared and shot him in the head. The link went dead after that.

"What was that?" Kasumi asked, pretty much freaking out.

"I don't know, but we have to go." Zak said, confused by what just happened. The dropship set down for them to board. Zak counted his squad's casualties as everyone got on. 4 dead, 3 wounded. He still had no idea how the rest of Dragon Company had done. As he boarded the dropship, it lifted off. He looked back out the boarding bay to the ground below as it closed. There were thousands of bodies everywhere. Dropships were pulling out wherever there had been survivors. Zak couldn't believe his eyes. Technically the mission had been completed, but he felt as if they had lost.

**On the ground**

On the ground below, Argost watched as the Novus Ordo dropships withdrew with their knights. He smiled as they fled before his armies. Now that Africa was under his control, he could set his eyes on his next target.

"General Farin, have Van Rook's money delivered to him."

"But sir, he failed to attack Kur. He was kept busy by the commander of those first reinforcements."

"Yes. But none the less, we still need him to train more elite troops. Also, congratulate your agent. He did a fabulous job during this battle." As Farin left to do as he was told, Argost turned to send his army new commands. _This has only just begun!_

**On the dropship**

"So what do we do now?" Zak interrogated the pilot.

"I've been ordered to bring you back to the fleet. It's still under attack, but they're holding for us." was his answer.

Zak turned to observe his squad. They looked tired. Sayre walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks to you, we got out of there alright." she said.

"So, not only do you have a girlfriend, but apparently you're a great soldier too, huh?" the commander finally said, a small chuckle coming from the helmet.

"Uh, yeah. What's it to you?" Zak snapped back.

"Oh Zak, I'm hurt. Don't you remember me?" she said, crossing her arms.

"Unless you take off the helmet or tell me your name, I don't know who you are." Zak irritatingly said.

She reached up and removed her helmet. Long brown hair fell out. She opened her eyes to reveal a deep brown set. "Recognize me now?"

Zak's jaw dropped. _It can't be! I haven't seen her in two years!_ "Wadi?!"

"Long time, no see huh, bad luck boy?" she said, a playful smile forming on her lips.

**What did you guys think? Let us know ok. No idea when the next post will be up. Again, thanks to everyone who submitted results. Until next time, this is The 13 White Knights (version2).**


	9. Capture and Ceremony

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. It continues with a little more of the battle of Africa, then moves on to a ceremony. Oh and to Kitten96, thank you for the ideas. Now, on with the chapter.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

Capture and Ceremony

"What are you doing here? How did you get into the Novus Ordo?" Zak interrogated Wadi.

"Do you honestly think you were the only kid in our group who would've made knight?" Wadi inquired, a smile playing across her face.

"Well, um…" Zak stated, unsure of how to respond.

"Excuse me, but do you mind cluing the rest of us in?" Daisuke inquired, looking at Wadi with a strange look on his face.

"Oh, yes. Hello to all of you. My name is Wadi and I'm a commander in the Middle Eastern contingent of the Novus Ordo. I also happen to be an old friend of Zak's'."

The whole squad turned in their seats to face Zak. He was still gaping at her, wondering what in the world was going on. Amused that he was confused, she continued.

"Anyways, I first found out about the knights 2 years ago. I traveled out to look at a base that had just been put up near the Hassi camp. I saw the Novus Ordo knights test driving their new Sabre Mark3 Tank."

"Let me guess, you liked the tank so much you tried to steal one?" Zak asked, seeing where this was going. The rest of the squad just stared, not believing that someone, a civilian no less, would be bold enough to do such a thing.

"Yeah, I tried. And I got caught when I started driving past the gate and accidentally blowing up the command center. My father arranged for me to work off my debt by working around the base. I ended up learning everything about the knights as well as training with them. When I was finished paying for the damages, I still wanted to stick around so I joined the Novus Ordo. Through the successful missions I completed, I rose to the rank of Commander of the Reserve Middle Eastern forces. And now I'm here."

"Wow. So that's why I haven't heard from you in awhile." Zak stated, an amused look appearing on his face.

"Could you answer me one thing?" Sayre requested. "Why did you call him bad luck boy?"

"Because anytime he gets near a blue tiger, he causes a huge wave of bad luck for everyone and everything around him." she stated.

The whole squad started laughing at Zak. Their great leader would have the worst luck around one cryptid. Then, all of the sudden the dropship lurched to the left. Something hit the right side as they were doing this. A cry came from the cockpit. Zak unbuckled his straps and ran up to the cockpit. The pilot was slumped in his seat while the copilot struggled to get control of the dropship. Zak removed the pilot's helmet and saw that a shard of metal had lodged itself in his head.

"Can you fly this thing?" Zak inquired, pulling the pilot out of his seat.

"Not sure sir! I'm still in training!" the pilot, a female Lamian, answered him.

"Well, guess I'm gonna have to." Zak said, strapping himself into the pilot's chair. He watched as anti-aircraft fire was occurring all around the dropships and fleet. An enemy fleet had also arrived to block their escape. He watched as 3 assault ships of the Novus Ordo were destroyed by a mysterious ship off to the east, behind the cruisers of the Ordo Ferrum. He weaved through enemy fire and the fighters battling between the fleets.

"Zak, orders coming from the _Silver Thunder_!" Kenshin shouted, approaching the cockpit.

"What's up?" Zak inquired.

Francis came on the cockpit's view screen. "Zak! We've got some bad news. We lost the _Lions Fang_ and _Electrocuter_! The _Gauntlet_ is already full with dropships and has to leave. We're almost full over here as well, but there are still over 70 or so dropships out there that we can't take. You'll have to try and make it to the Middle Eastern outposts."

"You know we don't have enough fuel to do that! There has to be something else we can do!" Zak replied. He looked all around the sky, searching for a ship that could load up all of the remaining dropships. The assault ships and frigates that had arrived to assist the carriers didn't have hangars so they couldn't take any dropships. That's when he saw the mystery ship of the Ordo Ferrum. It was huge and he noticed fighters coming and going from the ship. "What about that ship?"

"It's an unknown and belongs to the enemy."

"Well, why don't we appropriate it?" Wadi asked, stepping up into the cockpit.

"Don't you mean steal it?" Francis inquired, then smiled. "Not a bad idea actually, but there isn't anybody over there to coordinate the attack."

"I'll lead it." Zak remarked.

Both Wadi and Francis stared at him, surprised at what he said. "Zak, you're not a commander though." Wadi said.

"Everyone expects me to lead the knights one day, why not now?" he commented.

"Zak, you're not ready. Follow the original…" Francis began, but Wadi turned off the view screen.

"Oops. Well, why we're out of touch, mind leading us in the insane idea you came up with this time?" she suggested.

Zak looked back to his squad. They were looking at him from their seats, nodding with approval. Sayre gave him an encouraging smile. They were with him. "Of course." He turned on the comm channel. "All dropships currently in the air, rally on…" he paused to get the dropships id number, "SD5623-67. We're going to be acquiring our own ride home." He looked around him as the other dropships formed up around him.

"We're with you sir!"

"Just tell us where to go."

"About time!"

The reports kept coming in. Zak ordered them to head for the ship hanging at the rear of the Ordo Ferrum fleet. Fighters formed up to protect them as they sped towards the ship.

"30 seconds!" the copilot yelled. 2 fighters cleared the path for them to the hangar and disabled the hangar doors so that they wouldn't close. "15 seconds!" They were about to crash into the ship's hangar. "Impact!" They flew straight in, skidding across the deck as they came to a stop. Zak unstrapped himself and ran back to the dropship's bay. His squad was already up and ready. He opened up the drop ramp and charged out. Other dropships were landing and unloading their squads.

"Sir! We're ready to go!" a corporal reported. To his surprise, all 73 dropships had landed in the hangar. The knights, about a thousand of them, waited for his command.

"Alright, anyone with training for flying an aerial ship needs to follow the main assault group as we clear our way to the bridge. For each person in that group, I want 2 guards for them." 30 people had training, so the group totaled at 90 people. "We'll split into three groups. Group 1, headed by myself, will go to the bridge and take control, with the bridge crew right behind us. Group 2, headed by Wadi, will go to the engine room and make sure it is secure. Group 3, headed by Kenshin, will secure the communications room and secure the rest of the ship. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" was the eager reply. They split off to their assigned tasks. Zak and his team of 100, plus the group of 90 following behind, headed for the bridge. Wadi and her team of 150 headed for the engine room, while Kenshin split his group. 50 knights went with him to the communications room and the other 600 began searching the rest of the ship.

**Group 3, Kenshin's 50 knights**

Kenshin and his platoon moved down the hall following the signs throughout the ship showing them the way to the communications room. They came up on the room and after fighting the men outside the room, went inside.

"Freeze! Nobody move!" Kenshin ordered. There were about 20 communication technicians in the room, all raising their hands to show them they were unarmed. "Get up slowly and move to the back."

As they did so, Kenshin had 1 squads go back outside to guard the room, 1 squad watch the captives, and the rest of the 20 knights helped him get the communications room reset to the knights codes.

"Zak, do hear me?" Kenshin inquired as he tuned into the frequency they were using.

"Yeah, I hear you. I take it you took the comm room then?" was the reply he caught. Then he heard a bit of gunfire.

"Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, just having to fight our way to the bridge is all."

"Alright, we'll stay here and monitor everything going on."

"Good, keep me informed."

**Group 3, Wadi's 150 knights**

They ran down the corridor after departing the main group. Wadi was following the signs just like Kenshin had been doing. They came across the engine room doorway and blew it open. Daisuke, who had followed her, went in first with 2 squads trailing him. The room was huge! Motors and gears were everywhere. So were about a hundred Ordo Ferrum troops, staring at what just occurred. Then the fight began. The rest of the knights jumped into the fray, attempting to take control.

"Why didn't they realize what happened when we blew the door?" a young Valarian knight asked, returning fire at a group of troops that were hiding behind a column.

"Guess Kenshin got to the comm center before they realized we were on board." Daisuke replied, tossing a trooper past him and bringing his katana down on him. Another trooper saw his chance and tried to shoot Daisuke, but was hit in the side by a bullet. Daisuke turned and saw Wadi holding his rifle and smiling at him.

"You shouldn't leave yourself open like that, you know," she commented. Then she watched as Daisuke threw a knife at her. She got worried, until it went past her head and she heard a thunk sound. She turned and saw a trooper above her, sword still poised to strike, with a knife in his chest.

"Could say the same to you," Daisuke shot back, grinning as he ran up to her. He helped her up and together they ran towards the next part of the fight. Eventually, the fighting died down and the tally was up. For them, 35 dead and 37 wounded. For the Ordo Ferrum, 86 dead, 23 wounded, and 17 surrendered.

"Not bad. Zak do you hear me?" Wadi asked through the comm device in her helmet.

"Yeah, how'd it go over there?" Zak asked, barely heard over the battle going on in the background.

"What about you?"

"We're almost to the bridge. Just gotta clear this platoon blocking our path."

"Let us know if you need any help."

"Gotcha."

**Group 1, Zak's 100 knights and the bridge crew of 90 trailing behind**

They had just cleared the last batch of soldiers before the hallway went in three directions: up, down, and straight ahead. Zak took this time to rest. His group had been getting ambushed left and right. He only had half of the original group with him still.

"Any idea which way we need to go?" Zak asked, turning to the last of his group.

"Scans show that there aren't any troops on the path below, but it just dead ends. The path straight ahead and the one going up both reconnect before leading to the bridge, but there are fewer troops on the level straight ahead." answered Kasumi, who was carrying a handheld scanner.

"Alright, Asagi and Kasumi take 20 knights and clear the upper level. Sayre and I will take the other 2 squads and clear out the level ahead. Ren," Zak started saying, turning to the copilot of the dropship that brought him here, "Take the bridge crew and follow the team heading up. You'll be safer up there."

"Yes sir." Ren replied. The group split up and went to their assigned areas. Zak and Sayre lead 30 knights down the central passage, searching each compartment they came across. Then they came into a wider passage that had a central stairway and lead off in 3 other directions. They paused here, setting up a 360 degree defense circle, while Zak and Sayre checked the maps that Kenshin had sent them.

"This looks like it's the main intersection before you hit the bridge. Any signs of enemy troops?" Sayre inquired.

"The scans are useless right now. There must be interference from a jammer." said the comm expert with them.

"Then their probably about to attack us." Zak stated. "Everyone draw swords or fix bayonets! We're about to get rough in here!"

As soon as everyone was ready, they heard boots clanking and running from all around. Then they heard yelling. All around them, troopers came charging at them with swords drawn and rifles at the ready. They clashed into the first rank of knights in the circle. Zak and the others jumped over them and struck at the troopers still charging them. Zak swung his katana across 3 men and brought them down. He turned to see Sayre get thrown back against a wall. The trooper was about to shoot her. _No! There has to be something I can do! _Zak thought. Then he remembered what his mom said. His sword was a thunder katana. He aimed it at the trooper and willed it to do something. A bolt of lighting shot out and nailed the guy, sending him through a wall. Sayre got up, gave him a quick smile, and turned to face her next opponent. Zak remembered his training and turned to face a group of soldiers rushing him. He channeled fire into his right hand and tossed it at them. The ones at the front burned to a crisp. The last few stopped in their tracks, scared to even move forward. Zak was amazed it worked. He channeled water into his hand next and froze it. He raised his arm and shot ice spikes at them. They crumbled under the attack.

Zak lowered his arm. He looked back to se that the attack was over. 10 of his knights lay dead among the troopers who attacked them. "Let's move out people." They fell in line behind him moving towards the bridge.

_I can't believe Zak is still standing,_ Sayre thought. _He's been fighting so hard_. She watched him lead the team up to the point where Kasumi's team was waiting for them. They had lost 6 knights, so the total force that would storm the bridge totaled at 34. _Hope we have enough here to do this_. Zak looked beat.

"Zak, are you ok?" Sayre asked, worried he was going to collapse.

"Yeah, let's keep moving." he answered, pushing forward.

They arrived at the doors to the bridge. Kasumi and the demo team placed a few small charges on it. BOOM! They ran in as soon as the doors were blown. There were only a few troopers in the bridge area. Zak and his team dealt with them easily and turned to face the other troopers, then stopped as they realized they were surrendering.

"Bring the bridge crew up." Zak ordered, sheathing his sword and looking at the bridge crew that was surrendering. They were unarmed and seemed to just be bored. They were escorted out and kept under guard by the other knights that moved up with the bridge crew. Ren took her place at the helm and started to punch in coordinates and move the ship away from the fight.

"Zak, Kenshin's forces report that the ship is all clear and under our control." Kasumi reported from the central communication station. "Also, we're receiving a message from the _Silver Thunder_."

"Patch it through." Zak commanded. Francis's image appeared over the comm station.

"Zak, I see you took control of the ship. Any idea on what it is?"

"All we can tell is that it has a large hangar capable of carrying several fighters and dropships. Also, from the schematics I'm looking at here on the bridge, it has a large compliment of canons on the ship." Zak reported.

"Good catch then. Can you use the canons to rescue the fighters still out there?"

"Sure. Weapons, cover our fighters and target the enemy aerial ships. Have knights clear some space in the hangar and get ready to receive fighters."

The ship angled to bring its port side canons aiming at the fight. Knights manning each canon unleashed the laser blast of the canon on the enemy frigates nearby. 5 frigates were hit and sent crashing down into the ocean. Once the fighters were onboard, they turned the ship to cover the fleet as they escaped. When they were safely away, they went full speed back to Altus.

**At the conquered base of Alexander**

"WHAT?!" Argost yelled. He had just been informed of his newest ship being stolen. "That ship was even commissioned yet!"

"Sir, we did everything we could…" Farin's right hand man, Balthazar, started to say, but then Argost stood up causing all to freeze. He approached Balthazar, raised his hand as if he was going to punch him, then put his hand on his shoulder.

"Very well, General Balthazar. I'm putting you in charge of the next ships produced. I want my super carriers ready as soon as possible. Am I understood?"

"Crystal, sir." Balthazar replied.

**Altus, after the fleet returned**

"Zak, welcome back! How're you feeling?" Xavier asked, watching as Zak and the rest of his team, including the new bridge crew, walked down the ship's boarding ramp.

The fleet had returned and docked on Altus. The docks were full of knights, injured and tired, as well as captured Ordo Ferrum troopers. The knights that had stayed behind on Altus during the rescue operation were running around bringing medical supplies and water to the various knights who needed it. As Zak and his group walked up to Xavier, Zak's parents and Michael ran up to them as well. Drew ran up to hug her son, feeling how exhausted he was. Xavier had a few trucks bring them and the bridge crew back to the command center's meeting chamber. The knights collapsed on the floor or in chairs while Xavier began.

"Zak, first good job on taking the enemy ship and returning safely. Now here's the final report on how the mission went. Of the African Novus Ordo Knights, 40% of them were rescued. Of the Middle Eastern forces, 57% were pulled out. Overall half of the knights in Africa and the Middle East were rescued. Of the rescue forces sent from Altus, 63% returned. Mainly forces from the 12th and 67th armies survived. The 56th army suffered heavy losses and will have to be reformed." He paused here to let the group assembled to absorb what he said. "Now Zak, I have two more things to say. Well, three but two of them tie into each other. Based on the report I was given, you showed exceptional leadership both on the ground and in taking the super carrier as we're calling it. We believe that it's time for you to take command of the Novus Ordo, especially during this major turn of events."

Everyone in the group looked to Zak. He looked shocked and unsure of what was just said. "Do you really think I'm ready?"

"Yes, the other Grand Captains agree and are ready to follow your lead. Besides, you've fought Argost before and won so it seems logical."

Zak thought it over. He looked to his squad for support. The twins gave him thumbs up. Kenshin nodded his head. Ren and Wadi gave him smiles. Sayre walked over and whispered in his ear. "Do what you think you should and I'll be right there with you."

Zak looked to Xavier. "I'll do it. I'll lead the Novus Ordo." Doc and Drew were happy for their son and were showing it through their reactions hugging him and congratulating him. The rest of the knights started congratulating him as well.

"Alright, now that you're accepting leadership of the entire Novus Ordo, I have two more things for you to decide on. One, the new ship we have, since members of your group here are the ones familiar with it, is yours to have as your flagship. What would you like to call it?"

Zak thought about it, then answered "_Crimson Hope_."

"Very well. Now, you have to choose a unit as your personal guard and elite knights. Anyone in mind?"

"Well perhaps. Can you get these knights assembled tomorrow?" Zak inquired, pulling out a tech pad with a list on it.

**The next day**

The 67th army was assembled in the assembling area in front of the command center, dressed in their uniforms and standing in their assigned units. They were confused as to why they were assembled here. Then a horn sounded. They were called to attention. Zak and the Grand Captains Xavier, Marco, Alice, and Natsumi were standing on the announcement stage with Sayre, Asagi, Kenshin, Daisuke, Kasumi, Francis, Michael, Doc, Drew, Wadi, and Ren standing behind them. Zak approached the stand with Xavier.

"Knights of the 67th army, I'm pleased to inform you that Zak Saturday, the reincarnation of Kur, has finally decided to lead the Novus Ordo!" Xavier announced, listening to the thunderous applause and shouting he received. Zak stepped up to the stand next.

"Knights, my brothers and sisters, I have been tasked to choose a unit as my elite force and bodyguards. I ask that you, the 67th army, to become my guard and elite. What say you?" Zak inquired.

A silence greeted him. Then the general in command of the army stepped forward and said, "Sir, we're with you!" The rest of the army started shouting their agreements. Once they were finished, the general continued. "What will you call us?"

A smile came to Zak's face. He had been told that he would name the unit when they approved. He had decided on a name with his squad last night. "If you agree, you will be called the Dragons of Kur!" When he received a roaring approval, he drew his katana and raised it high. "For the glory of the Novus Ordo and the protection of all that is good, we will defeat the Ordo Ferrum and Argost!"

**Zak has finally stepped up as leader of the Novus Ordo. Will he lead them in victory or will Argost triumph? More chapters on the way. Oh and to Kitten96, since you don't have a profile yet this is the only we can contact you. We would like to make you an honorary White Knight in return for the reviews you've given us. Let us know what you think in a review if you see this. Till our next update, this is The 13 White Knights (version2).**


	10. Frontlines

**Hey guys. Here's our next chapter. The first bit takes let's you know what's been happening in a journal Zak's keeping of his days as leader of the Novus Ordo, then continues in regular time. Now, on with the chapter.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

Frontlines

/It's been 3 months now since the attack on Africa and my rise to leadership of all Novus Ordo knights. I've had to research strategies and the capabilities of the Novus Ordo. I dispatched some of my elite knights, the Dragons of Kur, to the continental headquarters of each branch so that I can have someone at the ready to relay my commands. Most of them are still on Altus. Argost has been pushing his troops further, using Africa as his base of operations, and started attacking the European and Asian bases. Reports are being sent to news channels all over the world. Sightings of large troop movements that no country claims as their own, strange ships flying in the sky, and unusual beasts found appearing all over the world. Argost and his forces are making this hard to keep a secret. The world leaders already knew of the war and have kept their forces out of it. They try to subdue the news media, but everyday gets harder.

Just about a month ago, Argost sent troops to South America and Australia simultaneously. We were caught off guard. Before I could rally troops to come to the defense of these areas, Grand Captain Marco contacted me, saying that South America was lost and that I should divert troops to Australia. I sent the majority of available forces to defend Australia while I took 2 divisions of the Dragons of Kur to South America. By the time we got there, only a few knights survived to be rescued. One general, tired and wounded from cuts all over his body, told me of Marco's fall. Australia was saved, but now South America had been lost to Argost even worse than Africa had been. With parts of Europe and western Asia under siege, he has turned his attention not to Australia, but North America. I have dispatched a full division of my elite under my command to hold the frontline. With me are Daisuke, Sayre, Wadi, Doyle and Ren. Ren is the only one not on the ground since she has become the main pilot for the _Crimson Hope_.\

Zak paused here and put the journal back in his ruck sack. They were in the Rocky Mountains and a temporary cease fire had been called so that each side could collect their wounded. Sayre and Wadi had gone to help out in the medical center of the base they were defending in this area. It was well fortified and wouldn't get hit from artillery rounds so the Ordo Ferrum general was attempting to take it by force of infantry. Daisuke stood nearby with 5 other knights, one of them a Dragon of Kur like himself.

"Hey Zak, can I ask you a question?" Daisuke inquired, noticing he was done writing and walked over to him.

"Sure, what's up?" Zak answered.

"Well, you see…." he half said/half stuttered. "Wadi and I have been hanging out for awhile now and I was wondering if you knew whether or not she liked me?"

The other knights nearby started snickering. Daisuke turned to get them to be quiet, but it didn't work seeing how his face was so red.

"Why don't you just ask her?" Zak interrogated.

"Because, she's older than me and might not think of me like that." Daisuke replied.

"Dude, she's only a year older than you! That's not that bad." Zak stated, giving Daisuke a small punch on the arm.

"I guess you're right. I'll ask her later." Daisuke said, smiling with newfound courage.

"Ask who what now?" a voice from above asked. They looked up to see Doyle drop in with 2 commandos flanking him, shutting down their jetpacks as they did so.

"Nothing. Daisuke just has a crush on Wadi." Zak answered, watching as Doyle grabbed Daisuke around the neck and rubbing his fist into his hair.

"Nice man. Gonna ask her out anytime soon?" Doyle inquired, laughing as Daisuke pulled out of his grip with his face bright red.

"I don't know alright!" Daisuke said.

"OK, enough. What are they up to Doyle?" Zak asked as he turned back into the command tent. On the table inside was a holo map of the terrain they were in.

"They finished pulling back their wounded just a few minutes ago. I saw the 35th Brigade moving along the path here." Doyle reported, pointing to a section of the map. "They were being reinforced by their 58th and 103rd Brigades as well, but I couldn't locate the 37th Brigade. They moved out an hour ago, but I haven't been able to spot them."

"Ok, take a few more of your men and check the area below us. They might be trying to sneak past us the hard way and head straight for the base." Zak instructed. As Doyle flew off with his commandos, Zak turned to Daisuke. "Can you go to the base and get Sayre, Wadi, and the rest of the Dragons ready for combat. We may need them up here soon."

Before he had finished, Daisuke had grabbed his gear and started to run for the base. Apparently the idea of seeing Wadi excited him. Zak turned back to look at the sky. There were some storm clouds off to the east and approaching fast. _Guess it's going to rain_, Zak thought before returning to the map.

**Back at Theta Base **

Sayre was helping a doctor wrap a bandage onto an injured knight's leg. It had been torn up when a grenade went off near her. Shrapnel had cut it to pieces. They had just finished bandaging it when the ground started to shake.

"Sounds like the artillery has started up again." Wadi commented, bringing the doctor and Sayre some water.

"Don't they realize they can't hit us? We're too dug in over here." Sayre replied, taking a small sip before handing it to the knight on the table. "What they should be doing is getting ready to pull back. They don't have reinforcements and can't keep this up."

They looked outside to the sky as it began to get dark and cloudy. Rain fell down amongst the rocky terrain, turning everything slick and muddy. Knights were getting some essentials out of the rain as a figure cam running towards them. Even though the sun was hidden, there was no mistaking the silver haired youth.

"Here comes your little love sick puppy." Sayre said in a childish voice.

"He's just nice. He doesn't like me that way." Wadi responded, giving Sayre a small push. She had already admitted she liked Daisuke, but she thought he wasn't really into her. Ever since the rest of Zak's core group of friends got promoted to commanders, he'd been hanging out with her anytime they got a break. She pushed her hair out of her face as Daisuke got to the medical building.

"Hey speedy, what's up?" Wadi greeted, using the nickname she had given him ever since he beat her in a race they had.

"Zak just wanted me to come and let you guys know he wants the Dragons ready for combat. Looks like the enemy is on the move again." Daisuke reported, avoiding looking Wadi straight in the eye.

"Is it just us or do we get reinforced from the American guys as well?" Sayre inquired, seeing what Daisuke was doing.

"We've got a full division from the 93rd army in today, but most will be moving down to either side of our flanks. Hey Wadi, could I ask you something?" Daisuke requested, his voice getting a little shaky.

"Well if I'm not needed, I'll just be going to get the other Dragons ready." Sayre said before she disappeared.

"Sure." Wadi answered.

"Well…um…you s-s-see… I… never mind!" Daisuke stammered, turning to leave. Wadi grabbed his arm before he could and yanked him back to face her. He was blushing deeply and refused to look at her face.

"You had something to ask me right? Well, come on then." Wadi said.

"Well…" Daisuke began. He brought his face up to meet her, a strange look on his face. Then it changed. His eyes became focused and he grabbed her and pulled her to the side. "Missile!"

The missile went past them and slammed into an empty truck. Then all #*$ broke loose. Troopers were charging at them from below at the point where the mountains base went into a small riverbed running through the mountains. Knights started to get ready fast, but many were caught off guard and gunned down. Daisuke unslung his rifle and shot four troopers making a run for the medical center. Three of them collapsed and the other ran smack into another knight who was waiting for him.

"Where the heck did they come from?!?!?!" Wadi screamed, as she drew her katana and faced two troopers. They had drawn their swords and brought them down on hers. She blocked them and knocked them aside. She stabbed one through the chest and withdrew the blade to catch another trooper coming up behind her. She twirled around him and brought her sword down across his back. He collapsed in a heap as she turned to face the first trooper she confronted. As he thrust his blade forward, she flipped up and over him and stabbed backwards. She felt it connect and heard him gasp for air. She brought the katana back up and ran over to Daisuke. Sayre had just arrived with the other Dragons and knights from the 93rd. More troopers were still coming. This was going to get messy.

**At the frontline, Zak's command tent**

"Something's not right. Daisuke should've reported in by now, even if he was flirting with Wadi." a Dragon of Kur knight commented as the rain began pouring.

"You're right. Contact him and see what's up." Zak ordered. As the knight turned to make the call, Doyle came back.

"Nothing. That brigade has to be here somewhere around here, but my guys can't find them." he reported. A communication knight came running up to them. She looked like she was in a panic.

"Sirs, I couldn't get a hold of Daisuke, but I got a call from the medical center. The base is under attack! Several Ordo Ferrum battalions have broken through and are marching on to the medical center. A few more are attacking the weapons depot." she reported, breathing heavily as she did.

Just as she did, a loud horn sounded. They turned to look on the other side of the valley between the mountains. The Ordo Ferrum brigades were charging their lines again, moving up and through the trenches. Knights who had been stationed at the front of the Novus Ordo trenches were falling back because they were overwhelmed.

"Looks like we've got trouble of our own. Tell the 47th Dragons of Kur brigade to go and assist the defense of the medical center. Then have the other units move up to defend the second area of trenches." Zak commanded, drawing his katana and pistol and moving up with the others. "Doyle, get your men and divide them to cover both areas. And tell the Amarok Battalion to get ready for the ambush."

**The medical center**

The knights were barely holding their ground. Daisuke was in the middle of the 3rd wave of troopers with 5 other knights trying to defend a doctor while retreating back to the center. He flipped backwards to avoid a bayonet from one trooper and came crashing down on another. He stabbed down on the trooper and brought his katana up to knock aside the rifle of the one charging him. He punched the guy in the head and brought his katana up into the man's chest. When he fell the knights were able to get the doctor back to their lines.

Sayre and Wadi were rallying the knights together in front of the center they were aiming their rifles at the ranks of troopers moving at them. Unfortunately, there were still several knights mixed in with the troopers. They waited until they were sure that all knights were behind them before letting loose.

Daisuke and his men were almost back to the lines when they got surrounded once more. Before they could begin fighting, gunfire went off all around them. Troopers fell down wounded or dead. Daisuke was about to order his men back to the lines when he felt something hit him in his side. He looked down to see a hole in his uniform and blood seeping out. He sank to his knees and fell forward. He saw his men falling as well. Then he heard someone screaming right as he blacked out.

Wadi fired at the troopers and was still firing as they fell. Then before she could stop, she saw a silver patch in the sea of helmets. She watched as Daisuke was hit and fell down. His men and the doctor fell as well. The troopers were falling back and dragging their wounded behind them.

"Cease fire! Daisuke! DAAISUKKE!" Wadi screamed, running towards his body lying on the ground. Sayre and a platoon of knights moved up with her, a few doctors running after them. She reached him and turned him over. His wound was deep. She felt his neck for a pulse. There was one, but it was faint and beating fast. A doctor knelt down next to him and began patching up his wound. He removed the bullet and got the blood to stop flowing.

"Is he okay?" Wadi asked nervously.

"He's out cold and he's lost quite a bit of blood, but he'll live." was her answer.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. Then she heard a big noise. It sounded like the troopers were charging again. But thankfully, it was just reinforcements from the front. The 47th brigade of the Dragon's of Kur. They were escorting the troopers that had retreated earlier with their hands behind their head. She saw Noriko, Daisuke's older sister, leading them. When she saw them, she ran ahead of her brigade and dropped to her knees beside them.

"What happened?" she cried, grabbing his hand as she looked at his face. His eyes were closed and there was a cold sweat on him.

"Friendly fire. He and his men here were behind the enemy when we returned fire. No one saw them there and they got caught in the barrage." the doctor answered. Wadi took this time to look at the others who got caught in the barrage. Besides Daisuke and his team, she saw a dozen more knights collapsed on the ground. Adding them together, she saw at least 7 of them were dead, 3 had minor injuries, and the last 8 had medics around them. Noriko was helping the doctor hoist Daisuke up onto a stretcher so that he could get taken to the center. Noriko turned to face Wadi as she got up and retrieved Daisuke's katana. She swiped the katana from Wadi's hands.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Noriko asked.

"I was going to take Daisuke his gear. What're you doing?" Wadi inquired, curious on why she was acting like that.

"For all I know, you shot him!" she screamed in her face.

"How could you say that? Even if I did accidentally shoot him, it was just that! An accident! Look around you! Others got caught in it as well! Why aren't you freaking about who shot them?!" Wadi shot back, getting mad.

"Their not my little brother!" Noriko yelled, pushing Wadi back. "And if it was you, I don't want you anywhere near him! He's got enough problems around you as it is!"

"Enough! Both of you need to cool down, especially you Noriko!" Sayre said, stepping between the two of them. "Daisuke is going to be fine and if he hears you're telling one of his best friends to stay away from him he'll get mad at you."

Noriko gave Wadi one last glare before she turned to follow the medics taking Daisuke and the rest of the wounded inside. _I wonder what she meant about him having problems around me, _Wadi thought. She looked at Sayre, feeling ashamed for loosing her temper like that. "Sorry I lost it like that."

"Don't worry. She's just focusing her anger on you for two reasons. One, she knows that Daisuke likes you. Two, you were the first person she saw and naturally she latches her anger onto you."

"How'd you know that?"

"I can read people's minds remember? As long as I know their full name."

"Oh yeah."

"Mam, we're getting a report from the front. It's Zak." a corporal nearby said, bringing the comm pad over to them.

**The frontline**

"I'm ordering an evac! The Ordo Ferrum broke through our right flank. The Dragons are covering the retreat and the 93rd will pull back to the center. Ren is ordering the dropships to come down and start withdrawing the knights. Priority to the injured and medics, then the regular knights and the Dragons. Do you copy?" Zak relayed through the comm pad in his hand.

He was hunkered down in the last trench with the Dragons spread out returning fire at the approaching enemy forces. The left and right flanks had already retreated back down the path between the mountains. Zak peered over the top of the trench to see some troopers bring up a bazooka.

"Bazooka!" he screamed. The knights took cover in the trench as the rocket slammed into the ground in front of the trench. 5 knights got thrown back at the blast. Doyle and one of his commandos shot out of the trench to take a shot at the trooper with the bazooka. They fired and managed to bring him down. As they came back down 4 more commandos were rocketing back to their line. 2 of them were shot down as they came down into the trench.

"Sir, they're moving up their tanks. I'd say we've got 3 minutes before they get within range to bombard us." they reported.

"Have our remaining tanks fall back then. We won't be able hold back their tanks with only 4 of our own." Zak commanded. As they left to make sure the tanks pulled out, Zak aimed his rifle at a group of troopers who got brave enough to charge out of their trench and rush theirs. He took down 5 of them before they were upon the trench. He jumped back to avoid being bayoneted. Unfortunately the knight who had been next to him didn't move fast enough. Zak threw his rifle across his back and morphed into the ancient cryptid. The trooper facing him froze as he saw a large white wolf with black stripes appear in front of him. Zak jumped at him, slashing his claws across the man's chest. Zak turned to jump on 2 more troopers and clawed them across the face.

"Get the Dragons and commandos out of here!" Zak yelled at Doyle. He nodded and gave the order to retreat. The knights began retreating and making the run for the medical center. Zak and his personal guard were the last ones running. They were Zintari Abeos just like Asagi. They had the ability to turn into a wolf and could keep up with Kur's ancient cryptid form. For that reason the Abeos of the Zintari have always acted as the personal guard of Kur. The Abeo to Zak's right was drawing up to speak with him.

"Sir, the dropships are pulling out quickly. We have to hurry and get to the center or we'll be left behind."

"Then let's get moving!"

**The medical center**

The knights were almost done loading up. The last of the ones from the trenches were loading up. Sayre was standing just outside of the landing zone. With her were Wadi, Yoshiro, and 4 other knights. They were still waiting on Zak and his group.

"Where is he?" Sayre said out loud.

"Don't worry he'll be around soon, just you watch." Yoshiro commented. Wadi said nothing. She was still thinking about Daisuke. Noriko had let her see him before they loaded him on one of the first dropships to lift off. Then she heard barking. The group turned to see Zak and his personal guard of 6 Abeos running as troopers on horseback were chasing them. One of them shot a round off at the group. A tan Abeo went down rolling a few feet before coming to a stop.

"Cover them!" Sayre yelled. The knights brought their rifles up and opened up on the troopers on horseback. All of them fell off their horses and collapsed on the ground. Zak and the Abeos ran aboard the dropship waiting for them. Sayre and the others started to board when all of a sudden an explosion went off near the dropship. They turned to see 2 tanks coming out of the pass with troopers pouring out as well. Yoshiro and the two knights from his battalion ran back down the ramp.

"What're you doing?" Sayre inquired while trying to follow them, but Yoshiro hit the ramp close button.

"We'll make sure they don't shoot the dropship down." he answered as he hefted a bazooka off the ground and onto his shoulder. "Get to the ship. And tell Noriko I'll be waiting for her on the other side and that I'm sorry I couldn't stick around."

With that, the ramp closed. Zak and the Abeos had returned to their human form and we're looking out their view ports to see what was happening. Yoshiro and one of his guys manned the bazooka while the other protected them from enemy fire. The tank that was angling its canon at the dropship was hit first. It exploded taking a dozen troopers out with it. The knight helping Yoshiro with the bazooka was hit and went down. Yoshiro had to stand up to shoulder the bazooka in a better position. He aimed at the other tank and squeezed the trigger. The rocket went and collided with it, blowing it to pieces. He dropped the bazooka and ran over to the last knight standing. They were about to run for it when a third tank showed up, aimed at them, and fired. Their was a large explosion where they were standing and when it settled they were collapsed on the ground.

"No! No one should risk their lives like that!" Zak yelled. Sayre pulled him over to her and had to hold him there. He was growing angry.

"Zak, many knights will risk their lives for you. You're the leader of all of us. You have to understand that we need to protect you and what you stand for." she said, trying to soothe him. The dropship pulled into the hangar on the_ Crimson Hope_. When they docked, Zak gave the order to go back to the Altus. He relayed orders for the 24th and 69th armies to get ready to defend their bases before he went to his quarters to rest.

**Back on the ground**

The agent watched as the super carrier fled the battlefield with its 2 frigate escorts. He turned to approach General Ivan and Lord Argost. General Ivan was the general in charge of destroying the Novus Ordo North American branch.

"Lord Argost and General Ivan, I'm here as you requested. I hope you understand what this means, pulling me out of the Novus Ordo. I was within reach of my original goal and swayed many knights to join me."

"Yes, of course Agent 17. But you needn't worry. We'll need you for a new task. First we'll need for you to learn your place." General Ivan said. Before he could blink, Yoshiro had crossed the distance between them and lifted the general off the ground by his throat.

"Don't forget, I'm a half breed. My kind let our people for many centuries before the Xylorians came and even then we would not be subdued. So I think you need to learn your place." the man said, his voice letting out a low growl.

"Now let's be civil about this. We know the half breeds of Solaria are basically Lamians with Solarian powers. This makes your kind very formidable indeed." Argost said. The agent smiled at this and let the general down. "Now for your assignment. You'll still be needed for the operation on Altus when it begins, but there are rumors of ancient cryptids that are still alive to this day. There are texts on this in an ancient Sumerian temple in China. Go and discover what you can."

"Yes, Lord Argost." the agent said. With that, he turned and left the tent. He put on his old uniform and met with his elites he had left behind when he went undercover. The time had come for him to do his true work. Even if it was from the shadows.

**Who is this agent? Will he succeed in his mission? Let us know what you thought. Oh, before we forget. Kitten96 you left us some questions on your last review. Here are the answers.** **1. Why me?**** You gave us some great ideas for characters we were originally going to leave out. ****2. What do I have to do to join?****3. What do I do if I do join? ****You just leave us a reply if you'd like to or not and you don't have to do anything. If you think of something that we could probably do or use, you'd just leave a reply for us since you don't have an account yet saying what it is. Since you'd be an honorary knight, we'd take your contributions more likely than others. **


	11. A New Couple and Bizarre Visitors

**Hey everyone. This is Knight14, the newbie that wrote the Night Out chapter. Here's the update. It's a little short this time, but that's because we're setting up a longer one next and this is just to let you know what's going to happen. Enjoy!**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

A New Couple and Bizarre Visitors

Wadi was sitting in a chair next to Daisuke's medical bed in the main hospital on Altus. It had been only a day since they returned from the front. The knights of the 24th, 69th, and the newly commissioned 103rd armies had managed to hold the lines against the Ordo Ferrum in North America. While the Dragons of Kur were taking some much needed rest, Wadi decided to stick around with Daisuke. Zak, Sayre, Noriko, and Kasumi were there as well, scattered about the room. Zak and Sayre were settled on the room's couch, Zak lying down with his head on Sayre's lap. Kasumi was trying to find a channel for Daisuke to watch that he liked. Noriko was sitting down on another chair, solemn at the news of Yoshiro's death.

"Wadi?" Noriko said finally, looking up to talk to her.

"Yes?" Wadi inquired.

"I hope you can forgive my reaction yesterday. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"It's ok. You were fearful for Daisuke's safety. I'd of done the same thing." Wadi replied.

"You have feelings for my brother correct?" Noriko asked. When Wadi nodded, blushing brightly, she reached in her pocket. She pulled out a necklace. "This is a family treasure. It used to belong to our mother. She gave it to Daisuke telling him to give it to the girl he fell in love with. He asked me to hold onto it for him, until he got up the courage to ask you. To be honest, I thought he was just full of himself at first. But after he kept telling me about you, I realized he was really falling in love."

Noriko handed the necklace to Wadi. It was a small sapphire imbedded in the center of a silver star. There was an overlaying pattern over the sapphire that seemed to guard the stone. It was on a slender silver chain.

"It's beautiful. But I can't take this if it's all you have left of your mother." Wadi exclaimed, handing the necklace back.

"Don't worry about it. This is a custom in our family. Since Daisuke was the only son she had, our mother wanted him to have the best gift for his lover. Besides, we each have something to remember our parents."

A groan came from the bed. Everyone looked to see Daisuke opening his eyes. He blinked and tried to focus on the room.

"Hey guys. What happened?" he asked.

"Oh you just got shot is all." Kasumi said, coming to stand next to her twin's bed.

"Is that all? Man I had it easy. A free trip to relaxation." he jokingly said.

Everyone got a small chuckle out of that. _At least his sense of humor hasn't been affected._ Wadi thought. She watched as he sat up in his bed to get a better look at everyone. When he saw her, he got red faced again.

"What's the matter? Still got a fever?" Wadi interrogated, putting her hand up to check his forehead.

"N-n-no I…" he stammered. Everyone had a slight smile on their face. Noriko bent down to whisper in his ear and put something in his hand.

"Well, I say we let these two finish their conversation from earlier." Sayre commented, pulling Zak up and leading him out the door.

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Come on Kasumi." Noriko said, pushing her little sister out the door.

"But I want to see…" she started to say before the door closed behind them.

Wadi looked at Daisuke. She could tell he was getting nervous. "What conversation are they talking about?" he asked hesitantly.

"The one we were having right before the Ordo Ferrum attacked us."

"Oh yeah." he said. He looked away from her face, trying to think of what to say. He turned back to look at her. "I wanted to know something. Well, I was wondering if you happened to like me."

"Of course I like you. You're my friend Daisuke."

"I don't mean like that. I mean do you…"

"Love you?"

"Well, um, yeah."

Wadi pretended to think it over. She watched as Daisuke started to fidget in his bed. When it looked like he couldn't take it anymore she answered him.

"Yes Daisuke. I do love you."

"You really do?"

"Here's your answer." she said. She bent down to kiss him. When she pulled up she saw him with a grin on his face. He pulled her hand towards him and placed something in it. She looked to see the necklace Noriko had shown her.

"Noriko told me she already showed you it and what it means for me. Please wear it. I want it to show that I love you deeply."

"Ok. I'll wear it for you." As she put it on, he pulled her back down to kiss her. They stayed like that while the door slowly opened and four individuals walked in with a camera. When the flash went off they broke apart to see Zak, Sayre, Noriko, and Kasumi grinning at them.

"Sorry, but we couldn't resist." Kasumi said, laughing at how red their faces were.

"It's ok. Just be sure to give us a copy." Daisuke said, Wadi's arms still around him. She sat down on the bed with him as Noriko came over to them.

"So, what now?" she asked them.

"I'd say we get him feeling better soon so I can take him out on a date." Wadi answered.

As they started to talk about their plans for a date, Noriko, Zak, and Sayre left them to it with Kasumi staying around to help them. They went back down the elevator to the first floor and walked outside. It was night time now and only a few knights were out.

"So, what made you change your mind about them dating?" Zak asked, recalling what Sayre had said about the argument Noriko and Wadi had at the base in North America.

"Yoshiro's death. I realize that although he's gone, my best memories of him are when we were together. They deserve the same happiness I had with him, especially if one of them almost dies like Daisuke did."

"Are you feeling ok?" Sayre inquired, afraid that she might break down again from remembering Yoshiro.

"Yes, I'm good. So what do you guys want to do?"

"Well we could always head into town and see what we can…" Zak began before a loud noise cut him off.

The air grew thick. The knights around them began to put their hands on their weapons, thinking it might be an attack. Then electricity seemed to stir in the air. Zak watched as a portal of some sort opened up a few feet away from them. It grew to form a dome and covered the ground beneath it. No one could see what was going on inside the dome.

"Get those knights ready. This might be something from the Ordo Ferrum." Zak ordered drawing his katana and getting into his fighting stance. All around him the few knights that were out did the same while one began calling the headquarters letting them know what was happening. The portal started to vanish just as quickly as it had appeared. In it's place where some strange beings kneeling on the ground. As they stood up, it was clear to everyone that they were soldiers. Thing was they looked just like Novus Ordo knights, but with white and gold uniforms on instead of the basic silver and black. The brought their weapons up as they saw the knights around them. Zak counted about 23 of them, but couldn't get a good look at their faces because they were wearing the standard helmet knights wore. _Just who are these guys?_ Zak thought. Nobody moved or fired at them just as they did the same. It was a standoff. Then the one in the center lowered his weapon and looked around. He seemed confused at first, as if he wasn't sure of where they were. Then he saw Zak. He raised his rifle back at him and moved a little closer so that Zak could hear him speaking.

"What year is this?" the man asked.

"What do you mean? It's 2014! Everyone knows that." Sayre yelled back, bringing her rifle on him.

"Then we're not too late. Are you Zak Saturday, the current leader of the Novus Ordo and the new Kur?" he interrogated.

"Yes who're you?" Zak answered, wondering what the heck was going on.

"I'm a commander of the Tiger Commandos of the Resistance Corps. And you are under arrest." the man answered moving forward at Zak.

_What the hell is going on here?_ Zak thought as the man and his men began to confront them. Then everything broke into chaos. Zak looked on as the man charged him. _What have I done to deserve prison?_

**Wadi and Daisuke are finally together. But just who are these mysterious soldiers? Where do they come from? And why do they want to arrest Zak? Leave us some reviews and you will find out. We're not joking this time. Reviews please or we'll have to stop this story. It'll be worth it, I promise. It has a twist we thought of recently. Until next time, this is Knight14 of the 13 White Knights.**


	12. A Fight with…Zak?

**Here's the fight with the mysterious soldiers chapter. Enjoy!**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

A Fight with…Zak?

The man charged at Zak firing stun rounds at him. Zak dodged them and brought his fist swinging to connect with the man's chest. As he went flying backwards, Zak looked at the knights fighting the other strange soldiers. The mysterious knights were using stun weapons only. _Why aren't they trying to kill us?_ Zak thought, as he brought his katana down on the knight he had just punched. Having lost his rifle, the man brought up his own katana to block. Zak almost froze when his katana met the others'. It was a thunder katana. His thunder katana! The knight seemed to notice that too for he froze up as well. Then electricity sparked around them as they continued to fight, their katanas ringing for all to hear.

"Knights, don't kill them! I repeat, don't kill them! Take them alive!" Zak ordered. Luckily, no one had been killed yet. Zak drove his katana forward trying to clip the man's leg. He dodged and brought his katana swinging up. Zak jumped back and brought his swinging for the man's torso. When their swords met, more lightning shot out.

"Who are you?!" Zak interrogated, furious at being attacked at his new home and threatened for something he hadn't even done.

"You will just have to find out now won't you?" the man answered back.

**Altus Headquarters Building**

Xavier stared at the knight who had brought him the news of what was happening. He turned to the other Grand Captains that were present. Natsumi and Alice just stared at him, mouths wide open with shock.

"Have either of you ever heard of something like this?" Xavier inquired.

They both shook their heads. "I've only heard of the Dragons that bestowed their powers on the Valarians having such power. But they're extinct." Alice replied.

"Have all available knights near that area to go there now. And remind them to take these strangers alive." he ordered, moving towards the door with them and 10 other knights. Before they reached it, a portal/dome appeared in the center of the meeting chamber. They turned to face it as it vanished leaving behind a dozen more mystery knights. Both groups brought out their weapons and directed them at each other.

"Are you Grand Captains of the Novus Ordo?" asked a knight towards the front, clearly a female speaking.

"Yes and who are you?" Xavier answered, his stun pistol aimed right at her.

"You're judge and executioner. Take them!" she ordered. Then all hell broke loose as each side began shooting each other with stun rounds.

**The Cryptid Research and Weapons Development Center**

Doc and Drew looked to Francis and Michael. They had just received the warning that not only was Zak fighting the mysterious knights, but Xavier and the knights with him were fighting a dozen more. Michael told one of the assistant knights to go and fetch the new stun weapons they had developed.

"What are we going to do?" Drew asked Michael as he distributed the stun rifles they had been developing. They had more rounds and could take down an enemy soldier with one hit guaranteed.

"I plan on going to assist my sister and your son. Francis, take some men and go help my father and the other Grand Captains. Doc and Drew, will you come with me to assist our family?" he started saying. Francis took 6 assistant knights and left the room to go and help Xavier. As soon as he left, a portal/dome appeared right in front of the double doors. When it vanished, 10 knights stood there with their rifles at the ready. When they saw the lab knights with stun rifles, one of them turned to what looked like their leader.

"Told you the others already beat us here. They're probably already arresting the other target."

"Quiet knight! Just do your part and we'll get out of here. Are you Doctors Doc, Drew, and Michael of the Novus Ordo?" the man asked.

"Yes and let me guess, you want to arrest us?" Drew asked taking aim with her fire sword. When the man looked surprised to hear her say this, Doc fired at them nailing one in the chest. As the man fell unconscious, his comrades charged at them firing their weapons as well.

**Altus Headquarters Building**

Xavier dodged a round from one of the mystery knights. The fight was getting pretty rough. The chamber was being torn apart as the knights fought back with all they had. Solarian knights were using their magic to shoot bolts of lightning and fire at them. The mystery knights would counter with Solarian magic of their own. Valarian and Phasman knights were flying around the ceiling of the chamber fighting knights who had their ability as well.

The commander leading these knights was tossing Novus Ordo knights left and right, using a martial arts style no one had seen before. Xavier ran at her, tackling her in the side. They rolled for a few feet before coming to a stop and jumping up facing each other. They were both unarmed and began fighting kung fu style.

"Just why are you here?" Xavier interrogated, launching blows at the commander.

"Heh heh, wouldn't you like to know?" the commander said, blocking each blow and flipping over him. As she did so, she brought her leg down on Xavier's back, kicking him forward. He went crashing into 2 of his own knights. They got up and noticed that she was the only mystery knight standing. The rest were tied up on the floor.

"Give up! You can't possibly beat us!" Alice ordered, coming over from the far side of the chamber were she had dealt with 2 of the mystery knights.

The commander tilted her head to the side and stared at them. If Xavier didn't know any better, she was smiling at them. But he couldn't tell with the helmet on. Then she started to laugh. She was having fun with this!

"Who said we were trying to actually beat you?" she asked. She pulled out a small stun grenade and was about to throw it when she got hit from behind and went flying forward. Standing behind her was Francis and some of the lab knights with their new stun rifles.

"Looks like we got here in time. With your permission sir, we'd like to get these people unmasked and identified quickly." Francis said, entering the room with his men behind him.

"Permission granted." Xavier agreed.

As Francis went over to the commander, she struggled against the knights holding her. "No please don't! You won't be able to handle what we are!" Francis stopped in front of her and knelt down.

"I think we can." he answered, reaching for her helmet. As he removed it, he froze. All the knights froze. They removed the rest of the mystery knights' helmets, seeing the same sight they saw when the commander's helmet was removed.

"Who the hell are you?" Xavier and Francis both interrogated.

**The Cryptid Research and Weapons Development Center**

Drew shot another burst of flame at one of the mystery knights, knocking him back against the wall. He fell forward, temporarily knocked out. She turned to see Doc shooting stun rounds at 2 mystery knights as they charged forward at a group of lab assistants. He managed to take one down as the other changed into a white wolf with black stripes and ran at Doc. It pounced on him and was about to bite his arm when a stun round hit him. The guy collapsed on top of Doc and changed back to his human form. Michael was standing nearby with a rifle trained on the man.

"Thanks Michael. Are there any more?" Doc inquired, pushing the guy off him and tying him up.

"Just 2. They're up there." Michael answered, pointing up towards the ceiling. One mystery knight was just floating up there, making him a Phasman, and the leader of the mystery group was there as well, using a jetpack. The lab knights took aim and fired. They nailed the Phasman, but the leader kept dodging out of the way.

"Guys, toss me up there." Drew ordered. Both Michael and Doc lifted her up with their hands under her feet. They tossed her up with all their might right at the jetpack knight. She reached him before he could move and slashed his jetpack. As they came crashing back down, Doc caught her and the knight crashed onto the floor. They tied him up immediately.

"Alright, now let's see who the heck you are." Drew said as Doc lowered her down. The man struggled to keep out of her reach, but she managed to grab his helmet and pulled it off. She dropped the helmet in shock. She couldn't believe who she was staring at. She walked over to each mystery knight and pulled off their helmets as well. Each time she found the same surprise as the first. She stepped back from them, confused and scared.

"Just who are you?" she asked.

**Back in front of the main hospital**

The fight was dragging on for quite awhile. Half of the mysterious soldiers were down on the ground, tied up and just lying there, while the rest where being overpowered by the combined might of the other knights who were showing up every few minutes. Sayre pulled out her pistol and nailed a knight in the neck bringing her down. As other knights ran over to tie her up, Sayre brought her katana up to block an attack from another knight and shot him in the stomach. She turned to look at the rest of the fight. Only 3 mystery knights were standing, putting up a good fight against the other knights. One was hit in the back by a stun round while another was tackled and held down by 4 knights. That just left the commander Zak was fighting.

They both stood face to face with sweat dripping from their hands. They went at each other again, trying to hit the weak points of each other. Zak brought his katana sweeping for the man's feet. He jumped up and as he did so Zak pulled out his stun pistol and nailed him in the chest. The guy came crashing back down. 2 knights came to tie him up as the rest of the mysterious knights were brought up to Zak. Sayre walked over to him as Zak knelt down and started breathing heavy.

"Zak, are you all right?" Sayre inquired, afraid he was going to collapse. She got over to him at the same time as Noriko. Together, they lifted Zak back up so that he could face the captured knights. They had been stripped of all their weapons and any intel they had. The intel was thrown in a box one of the knights had brought with him. Zak walked straight up to the commander.

"Now, let's see who's under the helmet." Zak said as he reached for the helmet.

"No! Don't remove it!" the commander pleaded, trying to pull his head back.

As Zak put his hands on the helmet, a comm knight yelled at him. "Sir! Xavier has just sent out a call for you and the knights at the Research Center. He says for you not to remove the knights' helmet and to bring them to the meeting chamber."

Zak stopped with what he was doing. _Why does he want to bring them over there? He must have a good reason_. Zak had two prison trucks brought over to load up the prisoners. Daisuke, Wadi, and Kasumi came down during this and asked to go with them. Despite Daisuke being injured, Zak agreed. He and some knights guarded the trucks as they moved to the meeting chamber. They unloaded the knights and moved them to the chamber. Inside, Zak saw Xavier, Alice, Francis, Natsumi, Asagi, his parents, Doyle, Michael, and Kenshin standing around 22 other prisoners sitting on the floor. Some of Zak's personal guard was there as well with Ren telling them to guard the prisoners. As soon as Zak had the prisoners join the others, he and the others walked over to the rest of the group.

"Glad to see you're all alright." Xavier said. The entire room looked as if a bomb went off in here.

"So, why did you stop me from taking off their helmets?" Zak asked, getting straight to the point. Everyone who had been waiting for them looked nervous when he asked. Xavier turned to order all knights who weren't Dragons of Kur or Abeos to leave them. As they fell out, Drew walked over and put her hand on Zak's shoulder.

"Honey, now don't freak out by what we're about to show you ok?" she asked him, worry appearing on her face.

"I promise mom. Now what's wrong?" They had him and the others (including Ren, Doyle, Asagi, and Kenshin) sit down before they continued.

"Remove their helmets." Xavier ordered. As soon as the knights removed the prisoner's helmets, everyone either stared or freaked out. Staring back at them was a sea of faces that looked very identical. They all knew that face too. They saw it almost everyday. Looking right back at them were 45 copies of Zak's face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Zak yelled, jumping up and freaking out big time.

The knights each had a face that reminded everyone of Zak. But there were some differences. About a third of the knights were female. Not all of them had the same hairstyle, but all had the black and white color combo. The eyes varied of all colors and some had Lamian or Zintari appearances. A few even had Valarian eyes. They all looked around the same age. A few had a lighter shade of Zak's tan skin. The commander was the only one with the exact same features as Zak, but with an eye patch over his right eye.

As everyone sat there taking it in, Zak walked up to the commander and lifted him off the floor. "Just who the heck are you guys?" The commander looked defeated and afraid to say anything more. Then a voice came from behind him.

"Might as well tell them Chris. It won't do us much good to stay quiet." They looked to see a young female with Valarian eyes (still a little freaked out at seeing a clone of himself, let alone a female one) speaking. "My name's Karin. We're from the future."

"What?" several people asked at once.

"Yes, she speaks the truth. We come from the future with a mission to detain the leaders of the Novus Ordo and prevent them from interfering with our true mission against Zak." the commander, Chris, said. "We are sorry to say this, but our orders were to keep you all busy while we killed him."

The rest of the group started to mumble amongst themselves. This was just completely absurd. The only person who could want such a thing wanted Zak alive at the moment.

"If you untie me, I'll show you a hologram that explains everything. Including how we came to be." Chris said. Zak looked at him searching for a hint of lying. When he found none, he put him done and cut his bonds.

"Zak, are you sure we can trust them?" Doc asked, worried that a fight might break out again.

"If I can't trust myself, who can I trust?" Zak answered, getting a grin from not only his friends, but the prisoners as well. Chris removed a hologram cube from his helmet on the floor and walked over to the chamber's hologram projector. A recording appeared on screen. A voice started to narrate as the images occurred.

"Hello. If you're listening to this, then hopefully you're Zak Saturday from the past and we've managed to reach you before the terrible event. The knights who attacked you, and hopefully are still alive, are what they seem to be. Clones of yourself. This began a few years after the fall of the Novus Ordo. Yes unfortunately as current events will play out, you lose the secret war. However, all was not lost. The survivors of the Novus Ordo, mainly Dragons of Kur and a few of the Altus knights, formed a resistance group led by many of Zak's old friends. Argost, supreme ruler of the world, began to enslave the world within his grasp. To enforce order and hunt down the remaining knights, Argost ordered his supreme general, Zak Saturday, to be cloned. That's right. Zak Saturday joined Argost in the end. We never found out why, but Zak never seemed to be himself whenever he served with Argost.

Anyways, with Zak's powers, he created two armies. One, the army of the Ordo Ferrum with reinforcements from the knights who switched sides when Zak left the Novus Ordo, and two, an army of cryptid soldiers restricted to the fiercest beasts and humanoid cryptids. He wanted more like Zak to control cryptids at every corner of the world, so he began Project Tiger Clone. Zak gave a hundred DNA samples of himself and helped create clones of his DNA. Only half of the clones survived to reach the first goal point. With his elite forces, Zak trained these clones to fight like him, think like him, and react like him. After 5 years of intense training, only 45 of the clones made it to the finish point. Because of their abilities inherited from Zak, they named themselves the Tiger Commandos of the Resistance Corps. Their goal: to eliminate all rebels to Argost's empire."

The group watched as images flashed in front of them. Zak was ordering the hunt of innocents who happened to be descendants of the alien races on Earth. His clones were slaughtering all who opposed Argost's commands. Sayre watched as Zak sank to his knees in horror of what he was being shown. She rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Then the hologram switched to show a researcher sitting in a chair.

"My name I cannot say, but I can say that I was the chief scientist in charge of the cloning process for the past 8 years. Not a day goes by that I wish I hadn't done such a thing. I had but one choice. I had to develop a way for someone to go back in time and stop Zak Saturday from becoming evil. By any means necessary. During my work on this project, Zak and a few of his clones discovered it and walked in on me working on it. I feared that I would be killed. But Zak looked sad. Never in all my years have I ever seen Zak show any emotion other than anger. He walked over to inspect my work. Then once he was finished, he turned to me and said, 'Nice machine. Hope it does the job well.' As he was leaving, he had a few of his clones stay behind to help me complete my work. I realized he was still a good person after all this time. Argost must have tricked him or forced him to serve him.

I finished my project 3 months after that day and gathered the clones together. I told them of their mission to kill Zak Saturday. At first they seemed sad at what I asked them to do. But Chris, the number 1 clone in the program, said to me 'Kur has been like a father to us. He has driven us hard to survive and, when no one else was around, cared for us, making sure we got everything we needed. He said you would have a mission for us that we might not like, but for us to do it for you. It was his last order to us.' The knights split into three groups and got ready for the departure. It would be a one way ticket. Even if they succeeded or failed, the future would change. They couldn't come back.

Before they left I recorded this message for you, Zak of the past, and them as well. Once this recording is finished, I will give it to Chris with instructions to play it if the mission fails. Knights, if you've failed that doesn't mean its' over. Zak was like a father to you in the future. Let him be your brother and fight alongside him, protect him from becoming evil, and live good lives away from Argost and his tyranny. To anyone else who sees this message, I wish you good luck and in the fight against Argost. Oh and before you go probing the minds of these clones, they won't be able to tell you how the war goes. Argost made sure that was kept from their minds and wiped it from mine as well. Don't give up! Fight to the end!"

The recording ended at that. The Novus Ordo knights all looked at Zak as he was on his knees shocked at what he had been told. Sayre was hugging him close, which was the only reason he didn't break down.

"Zak, sir, we know what our mission was, but as you can tell we never wanted to go through with it. You were our father. Please understand what our intentions were. We would follow your orders to death." Chris said, kneeling down next to him. Zak was still speechless and staring at the floor.

"Release the prisoners." Xavier ordered. As their bounds were cut, they got up and walked over to Zak and Chris. They knelt down beside him. Zak looked up from the floor to meet their eyes.

"Zak, we vow that Argost will never get his hands on you. As our father in the future, we will be your brothers and sisters in arms. We will make sure history changes itself. You will not become evil." Chris said. The rest of the clones nodded in agreement. Zak gave a weak smile to them.

"Thank you. All of you. I promise to you all and everyone here that I will never join Argost." Zak said, getting back on his feet. The clones rose with him and Sayre. "And should I do so I want anyone in here to take me done immediately no matter what."

The knights and his friends looked at him. They were shocked to see their leader, who had just taken a big blow, still stood strong. They agreed to do what he asked of them.

"Before we wrap this up I do have a few questions. One, how old are you guys? Two, why do you all look a little different from Zak if you're his clones? And three, where should we let you stay? If we let you out in the main armies, people will get confused big time." Doc asked. Many others agreed with him.

"First off we're 15. Second, they gave some of us some DNA from the alien races so that the clones would be more diverse and able to infiltrate enemy centers without notice. Same thing for the hair and eyes." Chris answered.

"As for where they'll stay, they can stay with me and the rest of my commanders in the Abeo barracks. They'll be safe there. The Abeos won't say anything to the other knights." Zak said.

With that, the clones were welcomed into the Novus Ordo. A few buildings away, a knight was relaying a message he received from the meeting chamber. The message went speeding away to a valley in China.

**A hidden valley in China**

The agent and his battalion were hidden amongst the forest on the mountains surrounding a valley. They were observing a large village below. Walking between the village buildings were these strange cryptid humanoids. They looked like fox people. They had blue fur with yellow fur on the forearms, stomach, the tip of their bushy tail, and their legs from below their knees down to their feet. They also saw wolves the size of tigers with white fur and black tiger stripes and had long fangs similar to a saber tooth.

"So this is where they've been hiding. Right under our noses with the Vulpi." the agent commented, grinning as he watched them through the binoculars.

"Sir, I'm getting a message from one of your knight operatives." a comm expert said.

"Later. Right now, we've got some ancient cryptids to catch."

"But sir, he says it's…"

"Are you in command here? Then shut up!"

They positioned themselves down the mountain as the night came to an end. They would wait till the next day to move out. Until then, they had to stay out of sight.

**How was that for an unexpected twist? Love it? Hate it? Sorely confused? We await your responses to this chapter.**


	13. The Rescue

**Here's the next chapter. It's the longest yet, but the next one will probably be the longest of all. Enjoy the new chapter.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

The Rescue of the Vulpi and the Tigerwolves

**Hidden Valley in China, Vulpi village**

Aron was fixing a hole in a roof over the village elder's house. He had accidentally blown a hole in it when he was testing a new invention of his uncle's. He looked up from his work to look across the Vulpi village. This was the last of the Vulpi in the world, but there were still about 5,000 of them. Plus the 300 tigerwolves that took refuge here with them. The elder said that they were the first cryptids to have ever existed and were the last of their kind as well.

"Aron, shouldn't you finish that up already?" a voice came from behind him. He turned to see his friends, Rioko and Damien, walking up with a tigerwolf. He recognized the tigerwolf as Kadan, the tigerwolf who had become the best of friends with them. He acted like the big brother in their group.

"Almost done guys. Just got to put in these last few nails." he answered back. As he hammered the last of the nails in, his friends began chatting about what they were going to do today.

"How about we go down to the lake today?" Damien suggested, indicating the lake right next to the village.

"No we did that yesterday. Why don't we go mess around with Falin and the others?" Kadan said.

"Can't, they've got work to do over at the school." Aron said, hoping off the roof and walking over to them. In the village, you had to go to the school until you were 16, learning all there was to know about the village and what lay beyond the valley. They had just finished their school years and were completely bored with nothing to do. "We could go hiking in the forest today."

"I don't know. I've got a bad feeling about the forest." Rioko commented, shifting her eyes towards the woods on the edge of the valley. It was only a few yards away from the village and normally didn't bother her, but she felt something was wrong today.

Aron looked over at the forest. He stared at for awhile, sensing something there, but not sure of what it was. He was about to say it was just some cryptid nearby when he saw a flash in the trees. No cryptid in these woods had anything that would reflect sunlight.

"Did you guys see that flash?" Aron inquired, turning to look at them. They nodded in agreement, their entire bodies frozen. Even their tails weren't moving. "Let's go tell the elder then." They took off running for the village council in the center.

**The forest surrounding the village**

The agent watched as the young Vulpi and his companions ran off after looking at the forest. He turned to look at the trooper who had dropped his helmet.

"Now look what you've done! They saw you and they're on their way to warn everyone!" he yelled at the man, walking over to him and shoving his helmet into the man's stomach.

"But sir, we have the rest of your brigade here now. Shouldn't we go ahead and attack?" one of the agent's lieutenant colonels asked.

"Yes we have to now, but you'll be leading the front wave. Move out now before they can get their defenses up!"

As the first battalion formed up to prepare to charge, the agent turned to look at the village. _This will be a short battle,_ he thought as 2 tanks moved up on either side of him.

**Vulpi Village**

"Elder! There's something in the forest! And it's not a cryptid!" Aron yelled, running past the council guards and straight up to the elder and the 4 council members of Agriculture, Studies, Defense, and Architecture. The guards didn't bother to restrain him, for his uncle was the Councilman of Defense. The elder waited for him to catch his breath before asking what was wrong.

"My friends had come over while I was fixing your roof and talking about what we could do today. We mentioned going in the forest, but Rioko said she had a bad feeling. I looked at the forest and was about to say there wasn't anything to fear when we saw a flash of sunlight. No cryptid has scales or anything else that could reflect sunlight in this area." Aron answered, talking fast.

The elder thought for a moment. Then he stood up and began issuing orders.

"Take the non combatants and children to the center of the village. Have our warriors prepare for confrontation. I fear we have been discovered by an aggressive force."

As the guards and councilmen left to do as he ordered, the elder asked that Aron and his friends stay behind with him and Aron's uncle. "Aron, your uncle has a task for you and your friends."

"Aron, in the Research Center a few buildings over, you'll find a man in strange armor. Tell him that now is the time for him to summon his allies. That we face great danger if they don't come." his uncle said. Aron looked into his uncle's eyes. He had been like a father to him ever since his parent's died of a disease when he was young.

"Yes Uncle. Come on guys." Aron replied.

As they came out of the council chamber, a loud explosion sounded in the direction they had come from. They looked to see large metal contraptions shooting fire out and destroying buildings. There were also hundreds of men in black and red armor charging across the small field to clash with the Vulpi warriors and tigerwolves waiting for them. The fighting between the two sides was fierce and deadly. Warriors on both sides fell. It looked like the only problem would be those metal monsters the strangers had brought. Then they saw more metal monsters and the strange warriors charge out of the forest. These warriors were carrying strange sticks that, when they brought them up, shot metal objects at the Vulpi and tigerwolves.

"Come on Aron. We have to get that man the message!" Rioko yelled, yanking on his arm to follow them. He turned and took off running after them. They reached the building and went inside. There was another strange being standing there, but he wore silver and black clothing instead of the red and black of the ones attacking.

"Who're you?" he asked them, noticing their arrival. He was holding a strange metal stick like the strangers.

"My name is Aron. This is Rioko, Damien, and the tigerwolf Kadan. My uncle sent us to tell you to summon your allies. We face a great threat today and need your help." Aron answered.

The man lowered his weapon. "So, the Ordo Ferrum finally found this place huh? Well, then I guess I better call them in finally." He turned to a device in the center of the room and pressed a button. A beam of light came out and hovered above the object. "Hello! This Operative 46229-X54 calling Grand Captain Xavier. I'm still alive and require immediate assistance in the defense of a cryptid village. I repeat…"

**Aboard the **_**Crimson Hope**_** over the Sea of Japan**

Zak, Sayre, Kenshin, and Xavier were taking the clones out on the _Crimson Hope_, letting them familiarize themselves with the flagship of the Novus Ordo Fleet. They had taken a great interest in the ship, exploring every part with excited anxiety. Karin, the second in command of the clones and a female Valarian version of Zak, was observing Ren in piloting the ship. Chris was standing with Zak, learning some new techniques from him and Xavier.

"So if the enemy tries to deploy two frigates against you with a fighter screen flanking both sides, how would you respond?" Zak quizzed Chris, seeing what he learned.

"I'd bring the ship to the starboard side, have the fighters exit the port side and hold until the enemy fighters were right on top of us, and have a small special fighter squadron circle around and take out the frigate's engines." Chris answered.

"Good. You remembered the Hornet Ambush." Xavier said, rubbing the young man's head.

Zak looked around the bridge. Other than Chris and Karin, there were 3 more clones wandering around. 2 of them, a male Lamian Zak clone and a female Phasman Zak clone, were listening on Kenshin's battle stories. The other, a male human Zak clone with green eyes, was learning to operate a ship's comm network from the comm officer.

"So, how do I contact long distance bases or ships?" the clone asked.

"Well, really all you have to do is punch in the…" the comm officer started to answer when a message tone came on. "Um, Zak? I'm picking up a signal. It's a Novus Ordo signal, but it's an old code."

"What's the code?" Zak asked, walking over to the station.

"Code is XR-746C. Any idea about it? Most of the knights know the new codes."

"Wait! I know that code!" Xavier said running to the station. "That's an old code used by my elite recon delta force. They were sent out to find lost cryptid civilizations, but after a mission in China 5 years ago I never heard from them again. I sent a brigade to look for them and found the force dead. I never found 5 bodies among the others, but I just assumed that something had dragged the bodies off."

"Put the signal on screen then." Zak ordered. Chris and Sayre came over to watch the screen. A man in battered Novus Ordo uniform clothing came on the screen. Behind him were 3 fox humanoids. They had blue fur with parts of it yellow. There was another figure there. As the screen focused, they saw… an ancient cryptid!

"Xavier! About time you picked up!" the man in the uniform said. "What took you so long?"

"If you haven't realized, Mark, YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR 5 YEARS! Where the hell are you?" Xavier shot back.

"I'll have to answer you later, sir. But I'm inside a village of cryptids that are under attack by Ordo Ferrum troops. Anthony and Felix are helping the Vulpi hold the lines, but it looks like there's a full brigade here. These people don't have many guns and the ones they do have are the ones we brought with us after our unit was attacked by Ordo Ferrum troops 5 years ago. I request reinforcements at this location." the man, Mark, said, transferring coordinates for the village. "By the way before I forget, there are approximately 5,000 Vulpi that need evacuation as well as maybe 300 tigerwolves aka ancient cryptids."

Everyone's jaw dropped. They looked back at Zak. His eyes were wide in shock and he pushed forward to the screen to get a better look.

"Who're you?" Mark interrogated.

"My name is Zak Saturday and I'm the new Kur." Zak answered.

This time it was Mark who was shocked. He looked down at the tigerwolf next to him and back again. "Sir, my apologies. I await your command on how to proceed."

"Defend the village. We'll be there in 30 minutes." Zak ordered. With that, Mark cut the connection. Zak turned to those around him. The entire bridge crew had heard what was said.

"Sir, we only have maybe 2,000 knights on board. Granted they're either Dragons of Kur or Abeos, but is that enough?" the weapons officer asked.

"Guess we're about to find out. Announce general quarters. Have all available knights we can to prepare to land in the dropships and have every pilot in a dropship. Any extra pilot will be flying cover for the dropships. Dropships that don't carry knights into combat will await the order to start loading the Vulpi. Tiger Commandos, you're with me." Zak ordered.

Everyone snapped into action. The weapons officer prepped guns, the comm officer relayed his commands, and the navigation officer worked with Ren to get them to their destination. Zak turned to Xavier.

"Sir, the ship is yours for now." Zak told him.

"Very well. Now, be sure to kick some Ordo Ferrum #^% for me." Xavier replied.

Zak took off for the loading bay with Sayre, Kenshin, Chris, Karin, and the other clones right behind him. As they went, more knights were rushing up and down the corridors or up the step ladders. They reached the loading bay a few minutes later. They strapped on their gear at the armory.

"Kenshin, you'll be leading the knights defending the drop point where we'll be loading the Vulpi and tigerwolves. Sayre, you'll lead the knights reinforcing the Vulpi warriors. Chris and Karin, like I said earlier, you guys and the rest of the Tiger Commandos are with me. Everyone got that?" Zak said, finishing strapping on his gear and running over to the dropships that were taking him and the commandos into the fight.

"Yes, sir!" was the reply he got. Sayre walked over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Be careful ok?" she asked him.

"Don't worry. I'll be ok. You be careful too." Zak answered. She ran for her dropship, pulling her helmet on as she went. Zak watched her board before pulling on his helmet and boarding the dropship.

**Vulpi Village**

Against the wish of his uncle, Aron and his friends rushed into combat with Mark. Aron watched as the man tore through the strangers. He also saw 2 more men dressed just like him, rallying the Vulpi in a defensive formation. Aron ducked as a soldier swung his sword at his head. Damien, who was standing right next to Aron, stabbed the man in the chest with one of his knives.

"Thanks Damien." Aron said.

"No problem man." Damien replied, throwing another knife at a soldier's head.

Aron looked back to see Rioko with the healers trying to keep the injured alive. Kadan was nearby with other tigerwolves defending the healers. He looked forward to see Mark and his uncle fighting back to back, tearing the soldiers apart. Then he noticed one of Mark's men fall down, shot in the back by one of the stranger's weapons, a rifle as Mark called it.

"This doesn't look good for us does it?" Aron asked Damien, blocking a sword coming towards him and batting it aside to stab the soldier.

"Not really. Wait you hear something?" Damien responded. Aron heard it too. It sounded like a roar. All the warriors and strange soldiers stopped for a moment, wondering what the sound was. Then they looked up to see large metal birds coming in from an even larger bird in the distance. Smaller ones were streaking towards the fight.

"Oh no, the strangers brought more men to kill us." a Vulpi warrior yelled.

Then the birds shot arrows of fire out and it struck several of the metal monsters the strangers had brought.

"No, it's my allies! They've come to help us!" Mark screamed, jumping up and down waving his arms at them. The birds pulled away and the bigger ones hovered a little above the ground. Out of the back came more soldiers dressed like Mark. They rallied on a female soldier and charged for the battle. The Vulpi weren't sure what to do. Then the soldiers charged right past them and started attacking the strangers who appeared first. With that, a cheer went up from the Vulpi and tigerwolves who began to fight alongside their new comrades.

Aron heard a noise behind him. He turned to see his friend Damien falling backwards, a large hole in his stomach. He turned to face the man who did this, but was tackled to the ground. The man on top of him pulled out a knife and raised it high. Aron looked past him to see 3 more metal birds hovering above the battlefield. He saw soldiers jumping out of the back and pointing straight down.

"Any last words, Vulpi?" the stranger asked.

"Yeah, look up." Aron said, seeing a soldier about to crash on top of them.

As the man looked up, the soldier changed into something else. When the change was finished, it wasn't a warrior that came down on top of the man, but a tigerwolf. The man was crushed by the weight of the cryptid. The tigerwolf looked down and saw Aron laying there.

"Get up now!" the creature said.

Aron got up, confused by what this man had just done. He looked around to see other tigerwolves were there had not been before. Then they changed into the new comrades that had joined them, yelling for the warriors to fall back. Aron looked back at the one who landed near him to see a knight in his place.

"Come on, we have to go." the man said.

"But we can't just leave our home!" Aron yelled back at him, questioning why he had to do so when they were winning now.

"Look, I don't have enough knights here to fight them off. It's either stay here and let almost everyone die or pull out now and save thousands of lives." the man said. Aron tried to stare him down, but couldn't with that helmet on him. He backed down and gave one last look at his fallen friend. Then he took off running after the other warriors.

Zak watched him go as Chris ran over to him. "Most of the warriors have pulled back now. The dropships have finished withdrawing all non combatants and have moved on to loading the wounded." he reported.

"All right, have the knights pull back and have the Tiger Commandos cover the retreat. Then we'll hightail it to the dropships when there almost finished loading." Zak ordered.

The commandos made a barricade at the only entrance into the center of the village where the dropships were loading. The Ordo Ferrum troops charged them with rifles blazing. Calmly returning fire, Zak and his clones held their ground.

**Dropship Zone**

"Keep it moving! We need to get out of here quickly!" Kenshin yelled, directing the Vulpi and Knights to the dropships waiting to lift off.

Sayre had just arrived with the last of Dragons of Kur knights, helping a knight to the medics who were still loading up wounded. A few Vulpi had been running with her and the knights. One Vulpi was wounded badly. From what she had gathered, he was the village defense officer. His nephew and friends had run right along with them until he was handed over to the medics.

"All right kids, get onboard one of the dropships." she told the Vulpi teenagers and the tigerwolf next to them.

"No, not until those men who stayed behind get here as well." the male Vulpi, the defense officer's nephew, replied.

"Aron, we should go." Kadan said, trying to convince him.

"No. That man saved me. I want him to get out as well. You and Rioko go on ahead." Aron said.

The female Vulpi walked up next to him. "No, if you stay, then we both stay."

Sayre smiled under her helmet. They reminded her of how she and Zak would act. "All right, then take cover. I don't want us caught off guard and lose anybody."

They positioned themselves on the side of the building she was standing by. The last few knights and Vulpi warriors had loaded up. Then she heard a loud bang. Next thing she knew, 40 tigerwolves came bolting down the road, rifles going off behind them. Sayre and the few knights returned fire, covering their retreat. The tigerwolves reached their position and split into 3 groups, running for the last dropships. Sayre and the others ran after them, dodging bullets as they went. The knights split into the other 2 dropships while Sayre, Aron, Rioko, and Kadan ran into the one in the middle. The ramp closed and the dropship lifted up.

Aron looked at the tigerwolves as they changed back into the knights just like they did before. The leader, for his uniform wasn't the same colors, removed his helmet and shook his head. He looked up and saw the female knight who hadn't been with them and hugged her.

"Told you I'd be careful." he said, smiling as he held her in his arms.

"Yeah, you did. Guess I'll ignore the part where you were running for your life from those troopers just now, huh?" Sayre commented back.

The man noticed Aron and walked over to him, extending his hand. "Hello my name is Zak…"

"Saturday. I saw you on that message thing earlier. My name is Aron and this is Rioko. The tigerwolf is Kadan."

Zak said hello to each of them before he looked at Kadan again. "If you don't mind me asking, why're you here?"

"What do you mean?" Kadan asked, not sure of what he meant.

"I mean, well, your kind is supposed to be extinct. What, or better way of asking, how did you come to be here?"

"That would be something you ask the tigerwolf pack leader." Kadan answered.

The dropship landed in the hangar. The ramp lowered and they walked out. The hangar deck was clustered with the Vulpi and tigerwolves. The knights who were there were bringing food and water to them and taking the wounded to the medical bay. Aron saw his uncle lying down with the village elder and the pack leader sitting next to him with 3 other people. 2 of them were Mark and Anthony, the knights who had stayed with them the last 5 years. The other he didn't recognize.

Zak walked over to Xavier. He was standing next to the knights who had called them in, a Vulpi, and a tigerwolf. Between them was the defense officer of the Vulpi village.

"Uncle!" Aron yelled, rushing to his side and kneeling down.

"I'm sorry Aron. He didn't make it to the medics." the elder replied.

Aron cried for his uncle. He had lost his best friend and uncle on the same day. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zak. He saw in his eyes that he knew what he was going through. _He must've lost family as well_. He felt another hand on his other shoulder. He saw that it was Rioko. She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks guys."

"Sir, are you the pack leader?"

"Yes I am young man and I know your Kur."

"Then can you tell me why your kind is still alive? I was told that the ancient cryptids had been wiped out." Zak inquired.

"We almost were. But the last one you knew hid their pups away with the Vulpi. We knew that we were thought of as dead, but we decided to protect the secret in order to prevent our race from dying out."

"That makes sense. I have many questions about my abilities as Kur."

"I shall help you with what I can."

"Zak, may I make a request?" Aron inquired.

"What is it?" Zak asked.

"I want to join you. To train as a knight." he answered. "I want to become strong to defend those who I care deeply for."

"I think that's a good idea. You'll be one of the first Vulpi knights to join our cause." Zak agreed. Several other Vulpi nearby also started to volunteer. This would be the first step in opening up a whole new world for these people. They wanted to be ready.

"Zak, I checked and found out the results. 65% of the Vulpi survived, about 200 tigerwolves survived, and we only lost 17% of the knights we sent below. Also, I have the names of the clones we lost. It was David, Juliet, Corey, Max, and Amanda." Chris reported, coming over to them with the other clones. The minute he took off his helmet, the tigerwolf pack leader freaked.

"Why is there more than one of you, Kur?" he inquired, watching as the other clones removed their helmets.

"It's a long story." Zak answered. He gave them a quick run down of what happened the day before.

"Hmm. This is very disturbing." he finally said.

"Why so?" Aron asked. "Isn't it good to have more capable warriors?"

"Yes, but now that several other Kur like people have been made, it means that when they die their powers will pass on to whoever they choose just like the original could."

"So that means that we'll have to locate more than one Kur." Zak and Xavier said at the same time.

"Yes. It will take 5 years for the first signs of a Kur, so we have some time to figure out a new way to locate them." the pack leader said.

"Then we'll work together. All of us. Whether we're human, Zintari, Vulpi, tigerwolf, or any other race. Right?!" Zak exclaimed, thrusting his hand into the air. Everyone in the hangar agreed with him and thrusted their hands or paws in the air.

**Later that night**

Everyone was settling into their sleeping quarters aboard the ship. It could ferry 20,000 knights and 5,000 crew at maximum. Only a tenth of that had been aboard before the rescue. So it was easy to fit the Vulpi and tigerwolves into sleeping space comfortably. Zak and Sayre were in the same room, lying on the bed cuddled together.

"That was some day. It seems like almost every time a big battle or important event happens, I gain new allies. Almost like I'm gathering them together for the biggest battle of all time." Zak commented, his arm wrapped around Sayre.

"Eventually we will have to fight Argost and his best. That will probably be the time we end this eternal war." Sayre replied, trying to calm his mind.

"Probably. But to think, that if any of the clones die, another new Kur is born immediately." Zak remarked.

"Yeah, 5 new Kurs born today and we have to find them before Argost figures this out."

"But that's a long way down the road. Until then we just do what we do. Like me kissing my girlfriend." Zak said, kissing Sayre passionately.

Sayre savored the moment. With everything blowing up at once lately, they hadn't gotten to spend much time together. Because of that, they had move into the same bedroom both on the ship and the Altus base. They lived like an ordinary couple. Well, as ordinary as a couple in the Novus Ordo Knight Corps. They fell asleep in that position, dreaming of far off places where they could live together happily and peacefully.

**The Ordo Ferrum destroyer, **_**Vampiric Shadow**_

The agent was standing before the holo communicator as Argost yelled at him.

"How could you not capture even a single tigerwolf?!" Argost screamed. "You couldn't handle an easy task such as this! You're incompetent!"

"I did what I could sir. You failed to provide me with adequate support." the agent shot back.

"That wasn't required. There was no way to know that the _Crimson Hope_ was close enough to respond."

Before Argost could continue, the agent said, "Sir, enough of this bickering. Their forces consisting of the most important members of the Novus Ordo have finally gathered at Altus. My men and the knights who have joined me are ready. Now is the time to act."

Argost stared at him for a moment before responding. "Do you truly believe that we're ready?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well then. Van Rook with the Mercenary Elite, Balthazar with the 24th and 56th Fleets, and Rani Nagi with the Snake Troops will join your forces and assist you and the Pacific Army units in the operation."

The agent cut the link and turned to his men. "Now is the time we launch the plan we have worked so hard to perfect. All hands to their stations. The time is now!"

**The rescue of even more allies, including the once thought extinct tigerwolves, has come to a successful result. But what is the mystery agent about to do now? Is the Novus Ordo in danger? Review and you'll find out in the next chapter (the second to last one in this story)!**


	14. The Secret is Revealed

**Here's the next chapter. Like we said, longest one we've made yet. Enjoy and thanks for reading.**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

The Secret is Revealed

"Come on guys! Keep moving!" Zak yelled, watching the new recruits from the Vulpi and other residents of the Altus city. It had been a month since the rescue in China. Zak and his knights had been given the time off they deserved. Zak, Sayre, and the rest of their group to include Daisuke (finally out of the hospital) and the clones decided to help train the new recruits in their training.

Zak looked around the field at the other trainees. Daisuke, Kasumi, and Wadi were teaching some recruits martial arts. Asagi was teaching those who would become scouts techniques she had found useful. Ren was giving crash courses in piloting. Kenshin, with help from Noriko, was telling the recruits with the communication ability how to operate the unique radio system and the code used by the knights. Sayre and the clones were helping Zak with the physical part of their training. Even Francis had come out to help those who showed talent with the hover bikes or the new Sabre Mark IV tanks.

"Hey Zak! How was that?" Aron inquired running up to him from the obstacle course. Zak looked at the clone next to him, Allicen, for the time. The female Lamian showed him 10 minutes and 37 seconds on the watch.

"Not bad. Need to bring it down another minute, but not bad. The course is longer than others the regular knights use." Zak commented. Aron had been the best recruit of all so far. His friend, Rioko, was watching him from the group with Francis. Zak noticed that the 2 of them were getting close.

"Ok! Here I go!" Aron yelled, rushing for the course again.

"That Vulpi is crazy." Allicen said, making a mark on the clipboard she was holding.

"He just wants to be the best he can be." Zak remarked, noticing how Aron reminded him of himself so much.

Sayre looked over at Zak from her training group. Chris and Karin were recording the results from the recruits. Sayre recalled that Zak told her something was going to happen today. She couldn't figure out what he meant by that.

"Something bothering you?" Karin inquired, looking up from her clipboard.

"Yeah. Zak said that he was going to do something today, but I can't figure out what he meant. It's driving me nuts!" Sayre replied.

"He probably just wants to do something romantic for you. Do you know anything Chris?" Karin asked.

"Um, well, uh, I gotta go over there and assist those recruits. Bye!" Chris answered, moving off to the knights working on their partner exercises.

"He so knows something." Karin remarked.

_Yes, but what could it be?_ Sayre thought looking back over towards Zak. When he finally noticed her she gave him a smile and returned her attention to the recruits.

"Zak, she's getting suspicious. When are you going to do it?" a voice in Zak's ear asked. He reached up to fix the ear communicator.

"Soon Chris. Daisuke, Kenshin, any of you hear from Doyle yet?" Zak replied.

"He said he was still getting something to put it in over an hour ago, but since then nothing." Kenshin answered.

"Hey guys, I can hear you ya know." Doyle's voice came through on the link. "I had to get the thing with Drew tagging along. She wouldn't stop recommending certain things here and there."

"Are they heading this way?" Zak inquired.

"They're about 10 minutes behind me and I'm 2 minutes away with Michael. Sure you know what to do mini man?" Doyle answered. "You could always wait till later tonight."

"No, it's a nice day and the Gardens nearby is perfect." Zak replied, answering the same question for the 26th time. He had gone around with his friends and family setting this up for the last week. He even brought Xavier into this, asking for his help in it. At first he wasn't sure if he would help, but then Xavier started naming some ideas for him and putting everything in order. _This is the time for it_, Zak thought.

Doyle drove up and jumped off of the hover bike he was riding and walked over to Zak. Michael pulled up just as Doyle handed something to Zak who hid it in his pocket. Zak looked over to Chris and nodded. Chris walked back over to Sayre and Karin.

"Sayre, Zak wants to see you for a second." Chris said, pointing to Zak who was waving at them.

"Ok, guess I'll see what he wants." Sayre said, a playful smile on her face.

"So, you gonna tell me what's going on?" Karin asked, her Valarian eyes narrowing at him.

"You'll find out here in a second. Let's just say one way or another, there's going to be some screaming." Chris answered, laughing at how confused she was.

Sayre walked over to Zak and kissed him. When she pulled away, Zak led her away from the field. He was pulling her over to the Sapphire Gardens, a garden filled with flowers from all over the world both cryptid and non. He pulled her into the center where the Sapphire Rose was. It was a rare flower made completely of Sapphire. It had been here since the first Knights came to Altus centuries ago.

Zak faced her and wrapped his arms around her. Sayre felt such warmth from him. She rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and imagining them far away where no war was raging and everything was peaceful. They moved over to sit on a bench and kissed passionately. When they broke apart Zak looked into her eyes. She saw they were full of love.

"Sayre, how long have we known each other?" Zak inquired.

"About 6 months now." Sayre answered.

"Can I ask you something? What did you think of me when we first met?" Zak interrogated.

"I thought who was this hot guy standing before me and why did I feel drawn to him. What about you? What did you think of me?" Sayre replied.

"I thought you were the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and wanted you then and forever." Zak answered, kissing her again as he finished.

"Is this what you brought me over here for? To reminisce about our meeting?" Sayre interrogated, seizing the chance to ask some questions of her own.

"No, I wanted to ask you something." Zak answered, getting off the bench and getting on one knee. Before Sayre could say anything else, Zak pulled out a delicate box with intricate designs on it. He opened it to show a ring. It was silver with a light blue stone set on it. There were an animal on it surrounding the stone. Two tigerwolves were set on either side of the stone acting as the guards of it. "I know people usually wait longer, but would you marry me?"

Sayre was speechless. Zak, her boyfriend and the person she loved the most in the entire world, had just proposed to her! She had thought about it before, but not to the point where she expected it. She stared straight into his eyes. They were full of love. _He has been great to me and I do love him more than anything. _Sayre reached down to wrap her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. It was the most passionate kiss they had ever had. When they pulled apart, Sayre was smiling at him.

"My answer is yes Zak. I will marry you." Sayre answered. Zak grinned at her answer. He got up and lifted her, twirling her around. They laughed and were happy.

"About time you guys!" a voice sounded. They stopped to see the twins standing at the edge of the garden. They ran after them and when they reached where the twins were standing, they stopped dead. Standing there were their friends, family, and the new recruits. All were smiling. When Zak and Sayre blushed at the sight, everyone burst into congratulatory applause.

"Well done Zak!"

"You two deserve each other!"

"Sayre, you go girl!"

The crowd kept going as their families came up. Doc patted his son on the shoulder as Drew hugged him. Michael and Asagi grabbed Sayre and almost squeezed her to death in a group hug. Her father, Xavier, came over and pulled them back a little, then joined them. Once everyone was done, they let both of them go.

"How did you guys know to spy on us?" Sayre interrogated, gasping for air.

"Zak asked for some help planning this. He had Doc and Michael make the ring from some of the steel we get from meteors and a piece of the Sapphire Rose. Drew and Doyle picked the container for the ring. And your dad told him this was a good spot to propose. The rest of us just had to make sure you didn't figure it out." Daisuke answered, his famous smirk on his face.

Everyone gave their congrats in the form of a hug or a shout out. Then the clones started to get the recruits back on task, but several were spreading the word of the proposal.

"So, when do you guys want to have the wedding?" Xavier asked.

Zak and Sayre looked at each other. They knew they had the same idea. "How about this weekend? We can prepare everything over the next three days." both of them answered.

"Sure. We'll help with whatever you need." Xavier replied.

**Later, about 3 hours from nightfall**

"This would look great don't you think?" Kasumi asked, showing Sayre some bridal gowns.

"Well, it does look good, but the back seems too big and fluffy. I don't want that." Sayre answered.

"How about the one on page 37?" Rioko asked, helping Wadi arrange some flowers for Sayre to look at.

"Too revealing. I couldn't wear it. I'd be so embarrassed." Sayre replied.

The girls were trying to put some ideas together for the wedding so they could start getting stuff together. Ren and Noriko were looking at spots on the island they could have it. Sayre would be the one to approve it all, but she hadn't had a clue on where to start. She was starting to like a dress she found when a knock came on the door franticly.

"What is it?" Noriko asked, walking over to the door and opening it. In came Karin with a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"You'd better come and look at this!" she yelled, running back out the door. Everyone ran after her, following her down to the multi TV screens in the Abeo barracks. On screen were images of Ordo Ferrum troop movements. Sayre and the girls immediately started to try and figure out where they were looking at. Zak and the rest of the group were already there. Sayre walked over to Zak.

"Where are these feeds coming from? Which base are they attacking?" she inquired, thinking that Zak would have some knights prepare for the defense. But before he could answer, Francis, who just happened to be there as well, cut him off.

"It's not one base. It's all of our bases. Those aren't our satellite feeds either." Francis, barely letting his nervousness show. "Those are news feeds."

"What?!" Zak and Sayre both yelled. They turned to look and saw that the news logos were in the bottom of each screen.

"Мы приносим Вам жить на этот сайт в России о таинственной войск, перемещаемых через вечной мерзлоты к…" a Russian reporter was saying. The translation program allowed everyone to read what they were saying. He was saying "We bring you live to this site in Russia of mysterious troops moving across the permafrost to…"

"这是刘为您带来本关于这个隐藏的堡垒行进数千名士兵的视觉。他们是谁，我们不知道，但… (This is Liu bringing you this visual of thousands of soldiers marching on this hidden fortress. Who they are we know not, but…)," one reporter in China said.

"Hier in Afrika, is daar 'n groot vloot van wat lyk te wees uitheemse indringers, maar net' n oomblik gelede het ons gesien het die mens aan boord van die skepe en draai ... (Here in Africa, there is a huge fleet of what looks to be alien invaders, but just a moment ago we saw humans boarding the vessels and turning...)" an African reporter said, showing a view in Morocco.

"Hola a todos los que acaban de afinars en. Detrás de mí son batallions de soldados misteriosos con tanques, la artillería, y bestias extrañas que mueven en lo que parece ser una base secreta. (Hello to all who are just tuning in. Behind me are battalions of mysterious soldiers with tanks, artillery, and strange beasts moving on what appears to be a secret base.)" a Spanish reporter commented, showing behind him a view in Mexico.

The knights watched as more reports came flooding in. They saw thousands of Ordo Ferrum troops moving out or attacking Novus Ordo bases. Then all the reporters went live to a UN meeting. The reporter came on first, informing the viewers that a group of unarmed men in strange uniforms and armor had walked in and interrupted the meeting. The screen changed as the camera moved to show Ordo Ferrum troops, unarmed and standing around lazily, were assembled around the UN chamber. In front of the podium were Argost and his generals. Farin and Munya stood on either side of him.

"My dear ladies and gentlemen, greetings and bien venue. My name as you all know is V. V. Argost. I bring you news of war and deceit. The group known as the Novus Ordo has been keeping a secret from you all." Argost paused to pull out a disc of some sort. "Here is information on all the creatures and aliens that the Novus Ordo has hidden from you for the past 800 years. I have just recently obtained this data so that I could inform you all of this. The world deserves to know what lies in their backyard or who lives among them. Several of these beasts and beings are quite dangerous and blood thirsty. However, thanks to the brave men of the Ordo Ferrum, we've managed to tame some of these beasts and convert some of these aliens to become our allies.'

"As we speak, I've ordered the Ordo Ferrum armies to attack and conquer all the bases of the Novus Ordo and seize the Sanctuary Cities they have scattered around the world. This is a large scale operation and I require allies to help us secure the safety of the world from these dangerous criminals. Will you let the Novus Ordo continue to hide amongst you and wait for their chance to strike? Or will you join us and end the threat?"

The chamber was quiet at first. Then the British representative stood up, saying he had just received word that Britain was with them. Germany, India, Canada, U.S.A., New Guinea, and almost every nation started to call out support of the Ordo Ferrum. Argost turned to a man standing next to him. The man walked up and removed his helmet. Everyone watching gasped as they recognized who it was. Standing there with Argost was Sam, Grand Captain of the European Novus Ordo armies.

"With me here is one of the six Grand Captains that serve the leader of the Novus Ordo. While one is dead and the other four have decided for resisting their own downfall, this man has declared he no longer follows their path. He has seen the light and wishes to say something." Argost informed, stepping aside for Sam to speak.

"UN representatives, leaders of the world, and to the citizens watching this broadcast, I am deeply sorry. For too long have I kept a secret that the world had the right to know. My father and his father before him tried to reveal the secret, but were always stopped before they could. I now pledge the Novus Ordo European Armies to be no more and declare my loyalty to Argost and the people of the world.'

While those few knights that resist this have fled to Iceland to a stronghold I intend to attack, I must caution the people in Greece as well. The entire contingency of knights there has refused to join me in my return to the light. They are lead by a man named Demetrius and have taken up arms in the base located near Athens. I call upon the Greek army to help us root out their evil.'

And one more thing. To the knights watching this in Altus, know this. Your headquarters there, your great army, will be destroyed soon. Even now, my best agent is leading the largest invasion force to confront you. Only to one knight am I sorry to do this. Xavier, Grand Captain of the North American Knights, I considered you a brother. May we meet again in the afterlife." Sam announced. Then he and the knights there left the chamber.

Zak and the others stared speechless at the screen. Then everyone started running to their rooms, grabbing their gear and strapping it on. Once done they ran out onto the base to see the knights preparing for a defense. Some were already manning the AA guns and shooting Ordo Ferrum fighters that were strafing the base. Zak and his people ran for the command building. A few knights around them fell as they moved towards it. Once they reached it, Zak and the commanders went straight into the meeting chamber. The commanders and generals of the other armies on Altus were gathered around. Zak and his Abeo guards walked over to the Grand Captains. Xavier and Alexander were there, but Alice and Natsumi were at their own headquarters in Australia and Asia. Zak wished them luck in this turn of events.

"So, what do we do? The entire world knows of us and because of Argost they think we're the enemy!" a general yelled.

"Quiet Randolph! Zak, what should we do?" Alexander inquired.

Zak looked all around at the faces of the men and women in the room. Most were older and looked like they had been fighting this war for some time. But he occasionally saw younger ones, like Sayre and the others he called his inner circle.

"Show me the position of the enemy moving here." Zak commanded. Xavier turned on the large holoprojector and a map of the island appeared. It showed the base, the four hybrid docks surrounding the island, and the Sanctuary Capital City. Zak listened as Xavier explained everything.

"There are approximately 200 Ordo Ferrum aerial ships heading this way from the north and south. To the east, a massive U.S. naval fleet is approaching, reinforced by 30 heavy Ordo Ferrum cruisers. The east has the most deadly of all. Full armadas of Chinese warships are en route here with 50 Ordo Ferrum frigates. Combine those forces and our hybrid fleet is outnumbered 4 to 1. The estimated troop count is 90,000 American troops, 150,000 Chinese troops, and 200,000 Ordo Ferrum troops. Their forces outnumber ours at least 3 to 1. They've already dispatched their fighters to try and knock out our aerial defenses and make way for the landing groups. They'll be here in 10 maybe 20 minutes."

_This is worst than I imagined! Not only are 4 Ordo Ferrum armies coming, but 2 American and 3 Chinese ones as well!_ Zak thought, trying to think of a plan. He came up with only one.

"We have no choice. We must abandon Altus and hide where we can." Zak ordered. Immediately, outbursts were given by those who opposed this plan. "I know many of you believe we should stay and fight, believe me I'm one of them. But there are thousands of civilians here. Argost is taking the civilian population of each Sanctuary City and capturing them yes, but only to prove to the world that he can control the alien and cryptid population. Better for them to bear out a few weeks or months of oppression while we work out some way to organize a resistance to this."

Everyone grew quiet at this. Then a general, Corey, stepped forward. "Where will we go and what do we say to the people?"

"Where we go, I don't know. But if we leave, the armies will follow us because we will be a threat to them. To the people, tell them I'm sorry. I will return to free them, but in order to ensure their survival I must leave along with all the other knights."

The generals agreed with him. A few knights volunteered to hold the enemy at bay while the withdrawal preparations were completed. As they left to do their tasks, Zak pulled Xavier off to the side.

"How did Argost get the information on the cryptids?" Zak interrogated.

"I don't know, but along with that and the fact that Sam was convinced to betray us makes me think that we have a traitor here." Xavier answered.

"If so, we must find them before we leave or else Argost will find us again."

"Agreed. I'll head for the Research Center and check the logs there."

"And I'll go and check the comm room for signals sent out and received today."

Zak took 4 Abeos and 4 clones with him and headed for the comm room. Xavier took 2 Dragons of Kur and 4 clones and headed for the Research Center. Sayre and the rest of the group split up following the commands Zak gave them.

"Ren, go and prep the _Crimson Hope_. Kenshin go and gather all the supplies you can. Clones, go and help him. Asagi, Rioko, and Aron, go and see what weapons you can get to the docks. Brother, get the tigerwolves to the ships." Sayre started to command, repeating the orders Zak gave them. As they left for their task, Francis tapped Sayre on the shoulder.

"I know I need to go get the vehicles loaded, but I was wondering where Noriko disappeared to?" Francis inquired. Sayre and the twins looked around. She wasn't there anymore.

"We'll go find her. Go and do your task." Sayre answered, motioning for the twins and 10 Abeos to follow her.

**Research Center**

Xavier walked into the research center. Most of the staff had already gone to go assist in the evacuation, but the Cryptid Research team was still destroying or downloading all their data. Xavier and his team went down the elevator and arrived at the lab. The doors opened and they froze. The lab was destroyed!

They slowly drew their weapons. The lab personnel and the knights assigned to them were spread out all over. Xavier knelt down to the closest one and checked him out. He noticed that the man's neck was cut. He looked around and counted the other bodies.

"There are still 5 personnel missing. I don't see Doc, Drew, or the Captain of the knights assigned here. They must be here somewhere. Fan out and check." Xavier commanded. As the others went searching, Xavier and one of the clones, a male Zintari named David, moved over to the main computer. He accessed the logs and checked the recent information transfers.

"Sir, here we go. A large amount of data was copied earlier, but there's no access code with it. Only a blank readout." David informed.

"AAHAAAAAAHA!" a scream came from above. A body came crashing down on top of the computer. It was one of the Dragons of Kur that came with them.

"Knights we have visitors!" a voice came from above. Next came two knights with their helmets on and made slashing moves at Xavier and David. They jumped back before they could get them and raised their rifles firing at the knights. They crumbled under the barrage. Xavier saw the other Dragon fighting two knights at once. The 2 clones above them were fighting a dozen other knights. The remaining clone was being lifted off the ground by a mystery figure. "It's good to see you again Xavier."

"Wait a minute, I know that voice. Show yourself!" Xavier called out.

"Very well." the man said, tossing the clone all the way across the lab, right into a broken electrical line. The clone was electrocuted. The man reached up and deactivated his faceplate. The knight stared right at Xavier, an evil grin playing on his face.

"It is you. Yoshiro! You're supposed to be dead!" Xavier yelled, disbelief spreading across his face.

"Those weren't real tank rounds firing at me and my men. They were paralyzing rounds. Once you were gone, I reported to my true master, Argost. I've been serving him for the whole time I've been with the Novus Ordo."

"How could you betray us? How could you betray Noriko?" Xavier interrogated. "And where's Zak's parents?"

"They're being held by Van Rook. As for betraying Noriko, I did no such thing." Yoshiro replied, walking past the dead clones and coming down the ramp. David and the Dragon of Kur knight stood on either side of Xavier. They rushed forward to meet him with their katanas. David swung high while the knight swung low. Yoshiro blocked them both and knocked their katanas aside. He slashed the knight across the chest and brought his katana up and straight into David's chest. As both of them fell, Yoshiro advanced on Xavier. "Who do you think kept me informed while I was away?"

"No, you can't mean…"

"That's right. Noriko and the knights under her command here on Altus are my allies. They sent me messages of everything. Except, I never knew Zak had brothers and sisters." Yoshiro continued, indicating the clones on the ground. "I'll have to check with them about that."

"Over my dead body!" Xavier yelled, engaging Yoshiro in a duel. As they ducked, weaved, and slashed at each other, Yoshiro's men walked up to them forming a circle. After about 10 minutes, Yoshiro was standing with his katana thrusted through Xavier.

"My only regret in doing this, I will hurt your family. I always respected you and them. They are great warriors. You were my inspiration for being a great warrior myself. But I choose the correct path. Go in peace and know that you're children will be spared. That is Sam's and my gift to you." Yoshiro told him, pulling his katana out and watching Xavier fall down.

"Men, tell Rani Nagi to attack with her Snake Troops. We go to rejoin my loyal knights." Yoshiro ordered. He gave one last look at the fallen warrior before leaving with his troops.

**Sayre and her team en route to the comm center**

Sayre lead her team towards the comm center. She had to tell Zak that enemy troops had already landed and were inside the base area. The Northern Aerial Dock had been lost and the Eastern Aerial Dock was in danger. They were almost there when a group of Ordo Ferrum troops appeared in front of them. Sayre and the others drew their rifles and opened fire. Some of the troops fell, but others moved too fast. Then Sayre saw they had reptilian faces. When one tackled her, she looked straight into his face as she stabbed a knife through his armor. The guy was human, but his skin was covered in scales, his eyes were like that of a snake, and when his mouth opened for his last exhale she saw a forked tongue just like a snake's fall out.

"Careful guys, these troops aren't human. They're cryptids of some sort." Sayre said, shoving the trooper off. Then she saw three more cryptids charging into the fight. She recognized them as Nagas. She even noticed the Naga Queen, Rani Nagi.

"So are these your dark servants? They're monstrous!" Sayre told Rani Nagi as she charged forward with her katana aimed at the serpent. Rani used her tail to bat her away easily. Sayre went flying backwards, landing right on top of Kasumi. She had the wind knocked out of her. 2 snake men came and grabbed her. The same happened to the rest of her team, except 3 of the Abeos were dead. It took 5 men to restrain Daisuke.

"Now, tell me where Kur is and you'll live well. Refuse and I'll kill you where you stand." Rani ordered as she slithered over to Sayre.

"Then I guess you'll have to kill me." Sayre answered, spitting in Rani's face. Rani raised her hands, about to strike Sayre.

"My Queen! Don't do it. Argost wants Kur's lover unharmed." one of the snake men said.

"Very well. You're very lucky to have Kur as your lover, young fleshling!" Rani admitted, ordering her troops to bring them over to where the comm tower was.

**Communications Building aka Comm Tower**

Zak and his team made their way up the stairs to the main comm device in the tower. There were dead knights scattered on the stair case. They had heard enemy troops were already on the base. Zak was in the center of the group with 2 Abeos and 2 clones in front and behind him.

"Any sign of the enemy yet?" Zak inquired.

"Not yet, but we're almost to the top of the tower sir." the lead Abeo reported.

Soon after, they were standing outside the comm tower main control room. It was set right on top of the building. Zak stopped here and checked his ammo and switched his rifle off safety.

"Sir, what if there's more than 1 traitor? How will we keep track of who's who?" the Abeo sergeant asked. Zak noticed a spill on the floor. He bent down to see that it was blue paint. He dipped his hand in it and smeared some on his shoulders.

"Put some of this paint on your shoulder. If they don't have paint on their shoulders, they're not ours. I need someone who's pretty fast to go in and see who it is. Any volunteers?" Zak said.

"I'll do it." a male Lamian clone answered. He went to the door, waited till everyone was hiding in a spot where they could look inside, and opened the door. Inside were 10 knights moving about the room, either relaying messages or observing the ground below from the windows that went all around. One of them was standing on the pavilion, looking down on the ground. When one of them noticed the clone, he let the others know. They each stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. The one on the pavilion looked back. The most the clone could make was that the knight was a female and seemed to be the one in charge.

"Who're you knight?" she inquired, pulling out her katana as she came back in.

"Wow, easy I'm on your side now, remember?" the clone asked, raising his hand to show it was away from the trigger of his rifle.

"Oh really? Remove your helmet and let me see who you are and state your id number." she ordered. "We've already had some impostors come up here."

The clone removed his helmet and said, "Code #TC043-K19." When the female knight saw him and realized he was a clone, she raised her rifle back up and fired. The clone moved aside bringing his rifle up and nailing the knight closest to him. Zak and the others rushed into the room firing their rifles or charging forward with their katanas. Zak flung a fireball at one of the knights aiming for him. It engulfed the knight.

Zak felt bullets go past him. He looked back to see the 4 knights behind him shot to pieces. He turned to fling fireballs at the knights who had appeared behind them and engulfed the first few of them. Then Zak felt a hand pull him back. He fell backward as knifes went through the spot his head had been. Zak fired his rifle at the knights there and watched as several fell from his barrage. Zak felt a bullet pierce his left leg and another pierce his right arm. One of his remaining knights grabbed him and pulled him out of the fire behind a console that had been knocked over. Zak saw two of the clones returning fire from there. He looked up to see the Abeo sergeant had pulled him.

"Cease fire! Knights hiding behind the console, give up!" a new voice commanded. Zak looked from behind the console to see the newcomers. He almost froze when he saw Yoshiro standing there, and then pulled his head back.

"So Yoshiro, you're still alive?" Zak inquired.

"Yeah I am. But I don't serve you. I never served the Novus Ordo." Yoshiro answered.

"Why? Why do you slaughter your friends?" Zak interrogated.

"I have no friends in the Novus Ordo. Those who fight with me used to serve them, but they now serve me and Lord Argost. Now, enough talk. Surrender and I promise you will live."

"A promise from a traitor is an empty promise." Zak informed him.

"Zak, please. Think of Sayre. Rani Nagi has her below this tower. She's still alive, but if you keep this up they will execute her. Please!" another voice pleaded.

Zak looked again to see the female knight standing out in front of the traitors. She reached up and pulled her helmet off. Zak really froze as he recognized her as Noriko. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Let me see her down there first then." Zak commanded. She nodded her head and had the knights with her lower their weapons. The Abeo Sergeant lifted Zak up and helped him to the pavilion with the 2 clones covering them. Zak looked down and saw Sayre and 10 other knights being held captive by Rani Nagi and her troops. Zak couldn't see her face, being 10 stories up, but he knew Sayre could see him.

"Fine. You win. I surrender." Zak admitted, lowering his head in defeat. His men relinquished their weapons. Then Yoshiro had a camera brought up.

"Now, swear loyalty to Argost and have your knights stand down. Do it and Sayre will live. Resist and she will die." Yoshiro ordered.

Zak looked at his comrades. They looked defeated, but willing to follow his commands. Zak knew this was being broadcast live all over the base and the world. "Knights of the Novus Ordo, I…I…"

**The Ordo Ferrum have exposed cryptids, the aliens, and the Novus Ordo. The world has pledged its' support of Argost and his armies. Zak and Sayre are held captive. Is this the time when Zak becomes evil? Or will he pull together something extraordinary and save Sayre, his friends, and the future of not only the Novus Ordo, but the world as well? Next time, Chapter 15: Losses and Defeat? It will be the final chapter for this story. Please leave a review. Oh, and if it's about why this is the last chapter, we're going to make a sequel to this story. Again, reviews!**


	15. Losses and Defeat?

**Here's the final chapter. Will Zak turn corrupt and join Argost? Or will he make one last stand? Read and find out!**

"Text"-talking

"_Text_"-cryptid talk

_Text_-thoughts

/text\- journal/reading

Losses and Defeat?

Sayre was staring at a portable TV screen, watching as Zak was ordered to give himself and the rest of the Novus Ordo up. She looked around at the other knights, seeing if any of them were in a position to help him. They weren't.

She still had her helmet on and decided to try and call someone to rescue Zak. "If any knight can here my voice, Zak Saturday is being held captive in the comm tower. He is being forced to admit defeat and swear loyalty to Argost in front of the entire world. Stop them any way you can."

"What're you mumbling about?" a snake trooper inquired, bending down to look into her eye holes of her helmet.

"Just that I'm going to kill you all when I get loose!" Sayre yelled in his face.

The snake man laughed and returned to guarding her in silence. Sayre noticed knights sneaking into the first floor of the comm tower. One saw her and saluted her before following his comrades. Sayre looked back up at the pavilion of the comm tower. _Hold on Zak, help is coming._

**Pavilion of the comm tower**

"I…" Zak struggled to say, knowing that this was what the scientist in the message had talked about. This was when he became evil.

"Get on with it!" one of the traitor knights yelled.

"Quiet! Either way, he's going to say it." Yoshiro said.

Zak looked back at Noriko, a thought coming to his mind. He knew that knights were in the tower to try and rescue them because his clones and Abeo sergeant hadn't taken off their helmets. They had received a message saying that a team was on their way up. So Zak decided to try and stall.

"Noriko, I don't understand. Your brother and sister are my friends and loyal knights of the Novus Ordo! How could you turn your back on family?" Zak interrogated.

"I know they'll be safe. Eventually they'll forgive me." Noriko answered, a sad look on her face.

"If you were down there guarding them and I refuse to say what you want of me, would you pull the trigger? Could you do that to them?" Zak continued.

"Shut up!" Noriko commanded, holding her hands to her head.

"You couldn't do that, because you think you'd be a monster. But then, how could you kill someone who has been like family to you? How can you be with a man who wouldn't hesitate to strike anyone down?" Zak kept going.

"I said shut up!" Noriko yelled, pulling her pistol out and aiming it at Zak. The other traitor knights were shocked at this. Even Yoshiro almost dropped the camera. Zak saw his chance and yelled at the camera.

"People of the world, I warn you! Argost will bring nothing but pain and suffering to all! He has lied to you and will continue to do so! To any and all knights who are watching or hearing this, I give you the order to fight on! If you have to, go into hiding for the moment! Live and bring down Argost! And to my beloved, I love you with all my heart and I'm sorry you have to see this." Zak cried out. Then he jumped forward, grabbed his katana and shot a lightning bolt at the traitors. They went flying backward. As his men grabbed their weapons as well, a loud boom went off and the whole building shook.

"Sir, the knights below say they were ambushed. One of the troopers below set off a bomb by accident and the whole building is coming down! We have to leave!" the sergeant reported. He fired a few rounds at Yoshiro, but the man dodged it.

"Fine let's get…" Zak began, then stopped. He felt something go through him. He turned to see Noriko standing in the same spot she had been, the pistol in her hand smoking from firing it. Zak looked down to see a hole in his chest, blood flowing out. As he collapsed, he heard Noriko drop the pistol and cry out, "What have I done!?"

Before Zak blacked out, he heard a scream go out. He thought he recognized the scream. He saw Yoshiro grab Noriko and rocket off the pavilion using his jet pack. Then darkness took him.

**Below, on the ground in front of the comm tower**

Sayre screamed as she saw Zak shot by Noriko on the TV. She watched as he fell down, stunned by the shot that had gone through him. The knights with him grabbed him and hoisted him up, moving back towards the pavilion.

Sayre went blank for a few seconds. Next thing she knew, she had just defeated her guards and grabbed her weapons. She shot the guards of the other knights and turned to face Rani Nagi. The rest of the knights grabbed their weapons and faced Rani Nagi as well. Sayre was the first to open fire, the rest of the knights following her lead. Most of the bullets bounced off her thick hide, but a few managed to get through and hit vital organs. She collapsed on the ground, writhing in the pain she was experiencing.

"Leave her as she is! Let her die slowly." Sayre ordered. Then she had to duck as more snake troops charged at them. She saw Zak and the knights with him on the pavilion. As she was trying to yell at them, a large groan was heard. The building support beams gave way and the whole thing started to come crashing down. Sayre watched as they fell off the pavilion and went crashing down. The rubble of the building came crashing down with them. As dust was kicked up, Sayre thought she saw a sliver of light, but when the dust cleared, there was nothing but a huge pile of rubble.

"Zak! ZAK!" Sayre yelled, running over to the rubble and trying to pull the rocks off the pile.

"Sayre! We can't stay here! We have to leave!" Daisuke said. When Sayre ignored him, Kasumi knelt down and shook her.

"Sayre, I don't like this any more than you do, but Zak would want you to get out! Don't let his sacrifice be in vain! Let's go!" Kasumi commanded.

Sayre looked at Kasumi torn between grief and the will to continue. Then she nodded her head. "Alright let's get going."

As Sayre and her team ran for the Western Aerial Dock, more knights joined them. After running 12 miles to the dock, the finally got to the loading ramp of the _Crimson _Hope. The others ran aboard. Sayre stayed behind and made sure everyone got on board. Francis was there as well, getting the last of the tanks on board.

"This is the last of it! We need to go now!" Francis informed her. She nodded, waited for the last knights to get in, and then closed the ramp. She ran for the hangar deck, running into a few of Zak's clones.

As she ran, she couldn't help but cry. The clones reminded her so much of Zak (for obvious reasons). She finally made it to the hangar deck, where she saw knights climbing into the Nova Mark7 fighters. She ran over to the nearest one and had a knight help her get strapped in.

"What's the situation Ren?" she asked, activating the fighter's comm channel.

"All knights that were still alive have evacuated. Most of the ships taking off face heavy resistance and we've already lost a third of the fleet. We need fighters to cover us. We're almost away but 6 Ordo Ferrum aerial cruisers block our path. We have the carrier _Golden Moon_ and the frigates _Endless Summer_ and _Arctic Fire_ supporting us. I hand command over to you for this Sayre. I'm just a pilot in this." Ren reported.

"Alright. Knights, give them hell!" Sayre ordered as she closed the cockpit and lifted off. As she shot out of the hangar, 70 fighters followed her. She looked at the radar and saw 46 other fighters joining them from the _Golden Moon_. She veered off towards the cruisers, ordering the knights to follow in a pincer formation. Enemy fighters came darting at them, but Sayre dodged their fire and shot missiles at them. She nailed 7 of them before they went passed her. She looked at the radar again to see that 20 fighters were still with her while the rest kept the enemy fighters busy.

Sayre had them split into teams of 7 and had each group target 2 of the enemy cruisers. They came in fast and dodged the fire coming from the batteries on the first cruisers and targeted the bridge. 14 missiles slammed into the bridge, taking it and the surrounding parts of the cruiser in a firestorm. With the 3 lead cruisers out of the way, the fighters went outside and circled around the remaining cruisers. Sayre noticed some of her fighters get hit, but kept going for the engines. When she was within range, she fired. Along with hers, 8 missiles streaked towards the engines. They slammed into the starboard engine, causing it to stop working and have the cruiser lean to the right and run head first into another cruiser. She looked around to see the other cruiser was taken care of, then ordered the fighters back to the carriers.

They streaked past what was left of the enemy fighters and made inside the hangar just as the hangar doors closed. An engineer ran over to her as she sat the fighter down. She jumped out of the cockpit and landed right next to him.

"Mam, you're wanted on the bridge!" he reported. She thanked him and ran for the bridge. When she arrived, she saw that Francis, Ren, Kenshin, Daisuke, and Kasumi were on the bridge. Ren was busy piloting, Francis was monitoring the holo battlefield display, Kenshin was operating communications, and the twins were seated near the holo chart of the world. Sayre walked over to Francis.

"What's the status of our withdrawal?" Sayre inquired, keeping her voice from showing the sadness she felt.

"The survivors are almost away. Our task force is being tailed by a heavy destroyer. We can't outrun it." he reported.

Just then Kenshin patched through the leaders on the other carrier and the two frigates. They appeared on the monitor beside the holo battlefield display.

"Hey guys!" Wadi chimed in. She was on board the carrier _Golden Moon_ with Karin and Aron. "Glad to see you made it!"

"What about us?" Chris inquired, calling in from the _Arctic Fire_. With him were Kadan and Asagi. _Where's Rioko and my brother Michael? _Sayre thought.

"Enough chit chat. What are we going to do about the destroyer on our tail?" Francis ordered. Just then the _Endless Summer_ captain reported in. It was Grand Captain Alexander.

"Everyone, I am telling you to take off as fast as you can with your ships. I'll steer this frigate and assault the destroyer." Alexander ordered.

"What?"

"You can't!"

"You and your knights will be killed."

"I've already sent those who didn't volunteer to stay behind over to the _Arctic Fire_. It's only me and 20 other knights manning the bridge and weapons. Flee and fight another day. Alexander out." He cut the link after that.

"We have to do what he says." Francis said.

"We can't just leave him!" Daisuke yelled.

"No, he's right Daisuke. There's no other way. We've exhausted our ammunition and we don't have long before the other Ordo Ferrum ships head this way. We must leave." Sayre said in a heavy voice. With that, Ren piloted the super carrier out of the battle and took off towards the west with the other carrier and frigate following. On the battlefield map, they saw Alexander turn about and fire his canons at the destroyer. The enemy ship took damage but was still coming right for him. Then Alexander kicked his engines into overdrive and rammed the ship. The ships melded together and went crashing down into the ocean. A moment later, they blew up in a tremendous explosion. The crew watched the flames as they grew smaller and farther away.

Later, the ships set down on an abandoned outpost to fuel up and head out again. During the entire thing, Sayre was locked up in her room. She was crying about the lost of her father, her fiancé, and possibly her brother. Nobody went to disturb her. Asagi came in when the ships were about to take off.

"Sayre, you ok?" she inquired, crossing the room and coming to sit on Sayre's bed.

"No. I don't think I'll ever be ok again."

Asagi hugged Sayre close and let her cry into her shoulder. "You cry as much as you want sis. Then we'll plan on how to defeat Argost."

**UN Meeting Chamber**

"We come to you live here at the UN. The world leaders have declared that Argost will be the Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies spearheaded by the Ordo Ferrum forces. Here he is."

"People of the world, I bring word of the battle that occurred over all over the world. The Novus Ordo has been defeated. The knights that we didn't kill are either now our prisoners or have fled into hiding. The headquarters for the entire force was just attacked and captured. Their forces have been greatly decimated and forced to scatter across the world.'

"I also have some bad news. Enough of their forces have survived to cause a problem for us. Many leaders of the elite army known as the Dragons of Kur have escaped our grasp. However, 3 more of the Grand Captains have been killed and so has the leader of the Novus Ordo. Only 1 Grand Captain remains. However, there are still dangerous individuals at large. Here is one of my commanders to explain who they are." Argost finished, stepping aside.

Yoshiro stepped up to the podium. "My friends of this world, I have the list of known individuals still at large outside of the commanders of the Dragons of Kur group which has been sent to all military installations.'

First, Demetrius, leader of the European knights that refused to follow Grand Captain Sam's lead, was last seen moving his Greek forces to join the few knights gathering in Iceland. His knights and himself have since been lost to all tracking units. Second, Grand Captain Natsumi, the last Grand Captain and leader of the Asian Novus Ordo armies, has taken her forces and gone underground throughout Asia. Be wary for her forces are highly trained and very dangerous. Third, Alexis and Sarah, daughters of the late Grand Captain Alice, have taken up position as leaders of the Australian knights. Australia has opted to help them and have given sanctuary to any knight wanting protection. Australia has not declared war and has remained neutral so no action will be taken against them yet. Fourth and last, Doyle and Eric, leaders of a small unit of commando knights, have disappeared from the prisoner facility set up in North America along with the rest of their unit."

When he finished, he stepped back to let Argost speak once more. "Thank you all for your support. We will inform you of any more changes when they occur." Finished, he left the room and headed for his transport waiting to take him to Altus. Yoshiro's number 1, Noriko, and Yoshiro both flanked him and entered the transport behind him. He turned to Noriko and waited for the report.

"Sir, they finished clearing the rubble of the tower. Rani Nagi was found dead underneath it. Several knights were found as well, but there were no bodies of Zak Saturday and the knights who were with him." Noriko reported.

"Hmmm… Unfortunate about the loss of Rani Nagi, but her troops will want revenge. This will be useful. As for the body, this must mean he didn't get crushed under the tower. But you're sure you killed him?" Argost said.

"Yes sir. I saw him fall and noticed that his Abeo guard couldn't find a pulse. But they still thought they might be able to save him, so he grabbed him and that's when the tower collapsed."

"Then we have nothing to worry about. Now let us turn to new matters." Argost said, turning to the fourth occupant in the vehicle. He was wearing a dark blue uniform with black boots and gloves. He had a pale face and jet black hair. He had crystal blue eyes and a smirk on his face. "What does your leader say?"

"He says he is impressed. For the first time in our long history, a planet has finally fallen to us with the opportunity to recruit a whole new army and convert the population. He looks forward to working with you. He is sending representatives skilled in diplomacy to convince your world leaders not only to name you emperor, but to accept us as their allies." the man answered.

"To our future as the strongest of allies then." Argost commented, pouring a bottle of wine into four glasses and passing them out. "May we prosper in the suffering of all our enemies."

**The final chapter! Don't worry we're making a sequel. But here are some questions for you to ponder. Where is Michael, Rioko, Doyle and the other knights still resisting? Is Zak really dead? Who are these strangers Argost has made a deal with? Await our next story, Resistance and Revolution. Also, thanks to Scarpaw, we will be writing another story. It's a crossover between Kingdom Hearts and Secret Saturdays called Heartless Cryptid. It will focus on Zak's story line and not a whole lot on the Kingdom Heart one. We'll try and get it posted on Halloween, but many of us will be busy. Anyway, review and let us know what you thought!**


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